Long after most of its contemporaries faded from memory, The Wizard of Oz has lived on in the public consciousness. In a very real way, the story of Dorothy and her three companions’ search for the “wonderful Wizard of Oz” has transcended its status as “just” a story and has become as close to mythology as popular entertainment gets. It was this idea – that we could approach something both so familiar and yet so endlessly rewarding – that initially made The Wizard of Oz such an appealing choice for J. Percy Page’s first musical ever.
What this production has shown me is that talent, commitment, and joyousness can be found anywhere and everywhere. As directors, these wonderful actors made our jobs… well, not easy (no production on this scale is ever “easy!”), but certainly enjoyable and rewarding. We couldn’t have asked for a better cast and crew to work with over the course of three months.
As well, it was incredible to see the amount of involvement from all over the school. Entire classes became involved in all sorts of areas (including the set building and painting, the poster design, the makeup, and the photography), and the amazing staff at this school pitched in in ways we could never have dreamed of. They say it takes a village to… well, OK, we forget the exact idiom. But you catch our drift.
Finally, we’d like to say thank you and farewell to our grade 12 actors. It was a pleasure to work with you this year and we will sincerely miss all of you. You made us wish we could have worked with you for more than a year. Good luck in your future endeavours and know that you helped to build something pretty special at Page.
- Matthew Blackwell and Amanda Neufeld
