"The Wizard" on Stage

Last night Seth, Melinda, and me, of course, all went to the Lee's Summit High School production of "The Wizard of OZ." And since none of us had ever been to the school we kind of got lost on the way, and we ended up being about fifteen minutes late. But it was okay. The back-seats weren't all that bad.

We watched the play, merely because the Tin Man was being played by a boy in our Church. I don't know his name and I don't even know what he looks like. I only know that he is tall and dressed in a full tin suit, he looks pretty good. But that's it. He did a really good job. They all did actually. And despite the fact that orchestra was a bit sour and squeekie, it turned out very well.

There were a few parts however that were, I guess, "The Bluppers" for the production. There was one part where the Scarecrow bangs on the Tin Man's chest and is suppose to hear nothing, you know its empty- no heart- the echoing of the tin is all you hear. But when the Scarecrow hit his fist against Tin Man's chest those two times, the sound was off. Way off. It was cute though. And then my favorite part was when the Wicked Witch of the West, or East, or whatever, calls for her soldiers. I think they're called Winkie Guards. But anyway, as they were marching with their funny little jagged-edge spears, one of the soldiers' spear-head fell off. So, that was pretty funny. Perfect timing -Right during the suspenseful, serious part. And then when the Captain of the Guard is speaking to the Witch, his spear-head fell off too. Melinda and I had a bit of a giggling fit, but hey - where's the fun in perfection?


Aside from all of the mistakes, they had their share of cool affects too. The house actually spinning around on stage, was really cool. Lots of applause for that one. Then the witch disappearing in the mist, and sinking into the stage below, was really cool. They picked a good Witch. Perfect laugh. Looked just like the real one. And Glinda! Oh, she was wonderful. Looked like the real thing. ...of course, the bubble she arrived in was just a big spotlight on the wall, but still, it was good. And the girl who played Dorothy Gale, did a marvelous job of making her voice sound like Judy Garland. Then everyone who had a singing part, Dorothy especially, all had a really good voice. No mistakes there.

There were a lot of cheesy lines in the play, but that was okay, and then there were a lot of funny ones too (not that cheesy isn't funny, its just, I don't really like cheesy things- well other than food that is, and even then I have to be in the mood for it. But I admit I get in the mood for cheesy things sometimes, too). My favorite was when Dorothy is with Glinda and the Chipmunks -I mean Munchkins, and the Witch appears looking for her sister. Anyway, they inform her that her sister is dead, and it was a little hard to get her to understand that a house had actually done the killing. That was pretty funny. But anyway, all you can see of the deceased sister is her feet sticking out from under the house and Glinda asks The Witch if she recognizes her sister, now that she's looking at her...or what's left of her. And The Witch replies, "Of course I recognize her! Who else would ware those slippers with those socks?" (I'll pause for a moment to let you laugh)....

Okay, then my next favorite line is when the Witch calls for her "Winkies" and they come in chanting that strange, depressing cadence. And the Witch gets a little irritated by it and asks, "But what does it mean anyway?" And the Captain of the Guard leans in and whispers (and it's always funny to hear people whisper on stage, because they're really not) "Well, it's an old Winkie chant and translated it means something like this: Ooo-eee-hoo. Yooo-ho. Ooo-eee-hoo." Funny, right? (I'll just pause again, for you to laugh....)



So anyway, that was what we did last night, and I realized while I was watching it, that it was the first actual performance that I had been too. I mean, there were those few plays I'd been to when touring Nauvoo, but this was the first High School Play. It was nice. I hope someday I can actually go the Theater and watch professionals preform.