Children of all ages will delight in trip down the yellow brick road
by Kirsten
fredrickson
news-review staff writer
Follow the yellow brick road and you may not be
in Kansas anymore, but you'll find yourself in a world where slippers can be
magical, friends are made of straw and tin, the palace will make you see green
and a small dog named Toto will make you laugh.
It's the world of Oz created by the young, yet talented actors of the Little
Traverse Civic Theatre's Children's Theatre. The Wizard of Oz, made
possible in part by a grant from the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation,
will delight all ages Friday-Sunday; Feb. 11-13, at the Crooked Tree Arts
Center. Show times are 7 pm today and Saturday and 2 pm Sunday.
This childhood classic, a story by L. Frank Baum, begins as Dorothy, played by
Amber Brubaker, and her dog Toto, played by Julianne Richey, are swept away into
the magical land of Oz. There characters blow their audience right along with
them into this new world with their comic, sometimes slapstick, performance that
keeps everyone laughing all the way.
As Dorothy and Toto begin to navigate their new environment, they find
themselves surrounded by a pack of giddy munchkins, one charmingly good Witch of
the North (Maggie Hayden), a rather clumsy Scarecrow (Sam Hayden), one rusty
Tine Woodman (Lauren DeMeyere) and the Cowardly Lion (Rob Manges). Each
character brings a new laugh or smile to the stage, with both well-timed jokes
and physical comedy that is laugh-out-loud funny.
The story, of course, continues as Dorothy and her pack of new friends take on
one tough adventure in the pursuit of each one's wish, a heart, a brain, courage,
and a home. On the way they'll meet a soldier with green whiskers (Spencer
Nemecek) who has a rather playful relationship with the mischievous Toto, one
Wicked Witch of the West (Jessalyn Lange), who may be evil but still manages to
make you smile, and one Wizard who may be the smallest of the bunch but has his
own magic up his sleeve.
Children will delight in the world these young actors have creatively built,
both through special effects and mere facial expressions, and adults will be
tickled as each scene draws you into this charmingly hilarious place of magic.
Dorothy (center), played by Amber Brubaker, gets
her pair of magic slippers and a farewell from the munchkins and the Witch of
the North, played by Maggie Hayden. Go to the land of Oz with them in the Little
Traverse Civic Theatre's Children's Theatre production of The Wizard of Oz.