Student actors pull out all the stops

PHOTOs BY matt nagle

You don’t find much in the way of entertainment for just $6 anymore, but for this very low ticket price you can see a wonderful play in the Columbia Junior High Performing Arts Center that will charm your socks off. Opening May 8, students from Fife High School and Columbia Junior High involved in the Fife High School Drama program will be performing “The Wizard of Oz.” If this week’s dress rehearsals were any indication, audiences are sure to be thoroughly enchanted by the cast of incredibly talented young actors.

Under the direction of Fife High School Drama Department instructors Dave and Teresa Hockman, with choreography by Kim Lee, the play pretty much sticks to the movie version of Frank L. Baum’s classic story, with all the characters and songs audiences of all ages have come to know and love. On opening night and at the May 16 performance, there’s a big treat in store when the Lollipop Guild saunters out to sing their song: Fife High School Principal Mark Knight, Columbia Junior High Principal Todd Nelson, and Fife Schools Superintendent Dr. Steve McCammon will play the three little rascals of the guild. Having performed in these roles in past productions of the play, they will certainly be a sight to see all dressed up as Munchkin boys. Surprise Lake Middle School Principal John McCrossin will also be in the play with his son, Kyle, playing trees.

In order for more students to be involved in the production, the troupe of young actors who made it through auditions was split in two, with cast #1 and cast #2 alternating performances, although some students will be in both casts, like Jordan Lewis, who plays the Cowardly Lion. Fife High junior Niko Pascua made such an impression at auditions that he was chosen to play the Wicked Witch of the West in both casts. He certainly has the skills to play the part with all the witchy nastiness required. While the other actors dance and sing in the play, Pascua does neither of these; rather, he comes onstage repeatedly to break up the frivolity and remind Dorothy and her friends that danger lurks behind every talking tree. “I’m only evil,” he said of his black-clad character that Pascua obviously has a great time playing.

Haley Rathburn plays the sweet and innocent Dorothy in cast #1, and Maloree Langdon plays her in cast #2. Mckenzie Meadows tried out for the role of Glinda the Good Witch and got the part. It takes commitment to be involved in the Fife High School drama program, she said. “You have to show up every day and focus.” She has a solo song to perform soon after Dorothy’s flying house hits the ground, “The Munchkin Land Song,” then appears again toward the end of the play. “I introduce (Dorothy) to the world and then I send her back,” Meadows laughed.

The costumes for the show are delightful, and special lighting effects and sets add much gayety, or drama, depending on where Dorothy is on her adventurous journey along the Yellow Brick Road. Add live musical accompaniment and all the ingredients are there for a family night out that won’t break the bank and will leave you humming a happy tune as you leave the theater.

“The Wizard of Oz” plays at 7 p.m. May 8 (cast #1), 9 (cast #2), 15 (cast #1), 16 (cast #2) and 2 p.m. May 10 (cast #1) and 17 (cast #2). Get tickets at the door.

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