From FR to Oz

This weekend, the yellow brick road leads to Fort Recovery.

The Fort Recovery High School Drama Club production of “The Wizard of Oz” opens at 7 p.m. Friday night with additional shows at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Director Reid Knuth chose the show in part because it is a well-known classic that is beloved by generations. It tells the tale of Dorothy Gale, played by senior Joscie LeFevre, being swept away from her Kansas farm home by a tornado to Oz. 

In her quest to find a way home, she meets up with a scarecrow (Trevor Heitkamp), tin man (Zach Schoenlein) and lion (Ella Kremer), all of which are in search of a brain, heart and courage, respectively. They join her in her journey along the Yellow Brick Road to find the Wizard of Oz, who is purportedly able to grant them the things they are missing.

Knuth added that he felt the show would be a good one to feature the students involved.

“I thought we had a good cast for it,” he said. “‘The Wizard of Oz’ has a whole bunch of leads. It’s not just one lead role, there’s about eight of them. We had a strong enough cast that I thought we could cast all eight lead roles and supporting roles really well and execute it.”

The cast of Fort Recovery High School Drama Club’s production of “The Wizard of Oz” performs during rehearsal Monday. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

 

In addition to Dorothy and her newfound friends, who also double as farmhands, the cast also includes Olivia Smith as the Wicked Witch of the West/Miss Gulch, Leah Wuebker as Glinda the Good Witch/Auntie Em, Grace Lochtefeld as the Wizard/Professor Marvel and Caden Marchal as Guard/Uncle Henry. (Kremer’s dog Boone plays Dorothy’s best canine friend Toto.)

LeFevre leads the cast, starting with her performances of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and singing just about every song in the show.

“Joscie is unbelievable,” said Knuth of the senior who played Else in last year’s production of “Frozen Jr.” among her many school roles and has been involved with several area theatre organizations. “I can’t say enough good things about her.”

The show has also unveiled some previously unseen talent.

“I continue to be amazed when I see new people that can sing and I didn’t know they could sing or that can act and I didn’t know they could act,” Knuth added. “Tin Man, Zach, had never done a singing role in anything before and he’s got a great voice. That’s just one example.”

To help set the various scenes, including the tornado, the drama club is utilizing projection for the first time in Knuth’s tenure. It supplements the set pieces, which were designed, created and painted by the students.

They also handled choreography and costumes for the show.

“It definitely has been a little bit more difficult than other years, but at the same time I think you feel more proud of the show in general because of all of the hard work and thought that has gone into every single part,” said LeFevre. “Plus, we get to work together more, which helps bring us closer together. …

“We’ve taken the initiative to go to other theaters and people around town and used all of our resources to bring the show to life.”

Tickets will be available at the door for the show in the Fort Recovery Elementary/Middle School auditeria. They are $6 for students and $8 for adults. Children 5 and younger are admitted for free.

“It’s gonna be a great show,” said Knuth. “It’s a lot like the movie but it’s not exactly the same as the movie. It’s live theatre, so if you know ‘The Wizard of Oz’ you come to watch this and you get ‘The Wizard of Oz’ plus some twists that you weren’t expecting because it’s live theatre.

“The kids have been putting in a lot of time and they’re ready to put on a great show this weekend.”

The story is fun with the magical characters including munchkins, the Lollipop Guild and jitterbugs. But LeFevre also pointed out that the message of the show should resonate with audiences of all ages.

“It has a lot more personal meaning,” she said. “I think a lot of people can relate to trying to find your home or find what matters to you and realizing that it’s in your friends and family.”