Community opens new theater, 'Oz' with large cast

The Smokestack Theater group of Community High School is kicking off its first year in a new building in a huge way.

L. Frank Baum's classic "The Wizard of Oz" will be held Friday and Saturday night in the Community High School auditorium.

"I wanted to do something to open up this new school building that was very popular and this seemed like a perfect fit," said director Anthony J. Davis.

Davis said that the biggest challenge of putting "The Wizard of Oz" together was dealing with a cast so huge that it doubled his largest cast ever.

With such a large cast and widely popular production, Davis knew that making all of the characters extravagant costumes was out of the question.

"This is the first play production we've done where we had to make costumes and rent them," said Davis.

Joining the high school cast members are some of the youngest actors to grace Community's stage.

"For some of the Munchkins and Flying Monkeys we were able to get several elementary students to perform," said Davis. "They are adorable and have been a pleasure to work with."

According to Davis, Friday night's performance is already sold out and few tickets remain for Saturday night's finale'.

"I really want to thank Mr. Mark Gregory, Colleen Adcock, Renee Powell, Angie Gambill, and Curtis Zane for all their help with this production; they really went above and beyond," said Davis. "The parents in general deserve a special thanks as well."

If you go

When: Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. both nights (remember Friday night's performance is SOLD OUT)

Where: Community High School auditorium

Cost: $3 admission

For more information concerning tickets, contact director Anthony Davis at Community High School at (931)685-1418 or email at davisa@bedfordk12tn.net.

Cast

Dorothy Gale - Kaylea Kupczyk

Aunt Em - Jessica Welsh

Uncle Henry/Oz Guard - Thor Mulkey

Scarecrow - Jordan Powell

Tin Man - Joshua Houston

Cowardly Lion - Brandon Adcock

Wicked Witch - Michelle Roxby

Glinda - Lauren Glascoe

The Wizard of Oz - Jason Glascoe

The Trees - Chelsea Buckingham, Megan Busbee, and Destiny Draughn.

Mayor of Munchkinland - Sabrina Hargrove

Munchkins - Karen Potts, Shelby Henderson-Hawn, Cameron Richardson, Tawny Helton, Gage Ralston, Victoria Hargrove, Ben Woods, Brianna and James Beech, Chelsie Walters, Shelly Sanders, Ashley King, Joel Powell, Elayna Sheffield, Thomas Meeks, Bradley Adcock, Sara Brook, Gracie, Cason Neill, and Trace Broiles.

Nikko (monkey commander) - Adrianna Vincent

Flying Monkeys - Tyler Morgan, Tony Perez, Stone Ralston, Jimmy Meeks, Justin Good, and Grayson Garrette.

Ozites - Ashton Bennett, Sabrina Hargrove, Lety Pena, Victoria Hargrove, Shelby Sanders, Victoria Brown, Chelsie Walters, Elayna Sheffield, Patrick Kelly, Sidney Segroves, Meagan Reid, Mariah Gardner, Ellie Whitman, Sara Newsome, and Katie Fletcher.

*Crew

Assistant Director - Thomas Henderson-Hawn

Stage Manager - Savannah Crosby

Lights - Sean Patrick Murphy, Justin Hopper, and Brandon Bush.

Sound - Mr. Mark Gregory and Justin Hopper

Props - Makayla Foster and Tawny Helton