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Community opens new theater, 'Oz' with large cast

Thursday, November 5, 2009
By Jaime Welsh

The Cowardly Lion (Brandon Adcock), the Scarecrow (Jordan Powell) and the Tin Man (Joshua Houston) rescue Dorothy (Kaylea Kupczyk) from the Wicked Witch's sinister castle.
(T-G Photo by Jaime Welsh) [Order this photo]

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.

The infamous Wicked Witch of The West (Michelle Roxby) delivers plenty of cackles, spells, and wickedness in 'The Wizard of Oz.'
(T-G Photo by Jaime Welsh)
[Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]
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

Comments

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I did not notice Ah-Zee being listed as playing the part of ToTo.

-- Posted by leeiii on Thu, Nov 5, 2009, at 8:46 AM

Lol We're having a blast doing this play! But, we've hit a speed bump of sorts.

Our cowardly lion had an accedient in the first performance and he was taken to the emergency room.

The play's still on, but keep Brandon Adcock in your prayers, please.

Thankyou.

~Sara <3

-- Posted by Sara2011 on Thu, Nov 5, 2009, at 11:02 PM

i heard about Brandon and really hope he is well to be able to perform, he is a great guy!!! i have my tickets for saturday night and cant wait because they ALWAYS put on a good show!!

-- Posted by jssg1975 on Fri, Nov 6, 2009, at 8:33 AM

First off, let me say that I am in no way, shape, fashion or form an expert on dramatical skills of troupes or groups. I do however, have 2 daughters that are both members of the International Thespian Society and both have been officers with the Smokestack Theater. I was fortunate to procure tickets when they first became available for Friday night's performance and was delighted by the evening's show. The entire cast and crew performed magnificently and are all shining examples of the talent that the small village of Unionville has to offer. I've watched pretty much every show since my eldest was a member of the cast of "Godspell" over 5 years ago.

"The Wizard of Oz" in my opinion, would be a more challenging role to take on than say, perhaps, "Man of LaMancha" or "The Crucible" due to the fact that we all grew up watching this show on tv, year after year. Not only did we grow up with it, but our parents, grandparents and in some cases, great-grandparents grew up with it. We've memorized every little detail, action, gesture, and innuendo of this favorite classic. So I would think as an actor, one would be under more scrutiny than normal by the audience to ensure each line is down pat and each action by the performers is "just like we remember it". Hats off to Mr Davis and the cast for a job WELL DONE! The casting for the main characters as well as all of the parts was second to none.

I would like to especially recognize two characters from the play ..... Michelle as the Wicked Witch of the West was the late actress Margaret Hamilton re-incarnated! The mannerisms from the frumpy spinister in Kansas bicycling along to the evil cackle of the witch as she leads the Winkies in the pursuit of the "ruby slippers" has to be seen to be appreciated.

And Brandon as the Cowardly Lion certainly earned his "badge of courage"! With the grit and determination of a true actor whose motto is "The Show Must Go On", Brandon was able to push aside the pain of his recent injury and gave us a performance as the lion that we remember and have loved for generations.

To all ...... great show!

-- Posted by M Welsh on Sat, Nov 7, 2009, at 4:18 AM

JUST GOT BACK FROM THE PLAY AND IT WAS AWESOME!!! I HAVE TO SAY THAT I ENJOY COMMUNITY'S PLAY PERFORMANCES ALOT, GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!!

-- Posted by jssg1975 on Sat, Nov 7, 2009, at 10:13 PM