This year the STA theater department put on a marvelous production of The Wizard of Oz. Countless hours and much work were put into this musical to be able to perform in early November. Many people dedicated time, went through auditions, and rehearsed for two months for the Wizard of Oz to happen. This musical had a lot of hard work put into it and it paid off.
Many people and many parts were involved in making The Wizard of Oz. Plenty of things had to be ready for the big show day like sets, props, costumes, and lines. Kim Spillman is the theater director at Aquinas and she put together The Wizard of Oz this year. She had help from Mr. Lucus who was in charge of set designs and Mrs.Davis who picked out and pieced together costumes. Mrs. Spillman also has her Intro to Theater class help out with the musical. They help make costumes and props, sell tickets, and usher at the shows. The cast all had to prepare multiple days a week for nine weeks. Everyone involved put in a tremendous amount of work and effort to perform the musical.
The first thing the cast had to do to prepare for the show was to prepare for auditions. Auditions started on August 28th and ended on the 31st. A few weeks before auditions began Mrs. Spillman sent out a packet for everyone to prepare. In the packet was a small portion of a part to try out and a song to sing in front of the judges, which students had to learn before they came to auditions. In auditions, students had to act, dance, and sing in front of five judges who cast the musical. The judges observe, take notes, and then later talk with each other and decide who is best for the roles. Some things the judges looked for were vocal range, confidence, and how prepared students came to auditions. A week after auditions they start rehearsing and getting the show ready to perform.
Two months of work was put into The Wizard of Oz at Aquinas, so they could perform four shows over one weekend. Every student involved had to spend about ten to fifteen hours a week preparing for the show. They spent many hours learning the music and dances, blocking their spots, and doing run-throughs. The hardest part for the cast was to learn their roles and know how to act their character out. Everyone involved had to spend multiple hours a day for two months working to make the show ready to perform. During rehearsals, they did read-throughs, dance runs, music runs, blocking, and full run-throughs the week before the show.
The production of The Wizard of Oz took many hours, people, and hard work to put together. They all worked hard and it paid off. Everyone involved put in their best effort to make a wonderful performance for the STA community to watch.
Many STA students got involved in the musical this year and spent their time committed to the Wizard of Oz musical. Participating in The Wizard of Oz was Brooklyn Werth who did an amazing job as Dorthy, Isaac Didier who played the Cowardly lion, Isaac Winkler who played the Tin Man, Matthew Fortino as the Scarecrow, and of course Libby Burgess as Toto the dog. Joining them on stage was the rest of the cast which consisted of 26 other STA students and the crew which had 21 students participating. In total STA had 51 students take part in the musical this year and help in some way. Whether they were on stage performing or part of the crew moving sets, all STA students helping out made the show possible and a great performance.
The cast of The Wizard of Oz was very proud of each other for the amount of effort and talent that everyone showed in the musical. Everyone was very professional on stage. If the cast made a mistake they were very professional and kept the show going without a hiccup. The cast had tons of fun with each other every day after school rehearsing and getting ready for the show. Overall the cast had fun on stage together performing and taking in the moment. For our seniors it is their last musical they will perform at Aquinas, and they went out with a bang.
It has been twenty years exactly since STA last did the Wizard of Oz and the performance was just as good twenty years later. Kim Spillman directed The Wizard of Oz twenty years ago and just this last year at Aquinas. The show was a great hit and let our talented STA students show off their abilities. Our school performs three shows a year, the Wizard of Oz was the first. They will have a Christmas play this December and then a play in the spring. The seniors did an amazing job on their last musical, and we can’t wait to see the talented juniors, sophomores, and freshmen next year performing.
