After months of building sets, learning roles and finishing touches the musical “The Wizard of Oz” is ready for it to hit the stage. Theater arts and tech teacher Morgan Brown talks about what she wants the audience to take away from the production of “The Wizard of Oz”. 

“The main theme of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is gratitude and friendship,” she said. “At the beginning of the show, Dorothy resents her family and friends. Through various trials when in Oz, she learns to appreciate the people who love her and value the traits that make them, them. It’s a classic “feel-good” story and I hope the audience leaves with a renewed appreciation for the ones they love.” 

Freshman Austin Weaver gets ready to play the Cowardly Lion, the role he auditioned for, in his first high school musical. He has had to really step into his role emotionally and physically. 

“There are two hardest parts of stepping into this role, one being emotional and [one] being physical,” he said. “Emotionally, it’s very important to me that I keep who he is and how he’s feeling at a moment intact. A big part of the Lion is his cowardliness, so I want to make sure I do a good job of portraying that! Physically, I have to do a cartwheel, so that’s been a journey learning how to do that.” 

Performing on stage in front of many people can be very challenging even for actors who have been doing it for a while. 

“Many of our students deal with varying degrees of stage fright (and fun fact: so do I!),” Brown said. “What helps the most is remembering how many rehearsals we have had to prepare for the show. I remind the students that their talent earned them their places in the musical, and their work ethic will make the show great. It also helps to have a strong community of actors to boost each other up. We’re lucky to have that at Hoover.” 

Since performing can be so nervewracking, this is what Weaver did to calm himself down before performing. 

“To calm myself down before a rehearsal or performance, I like to just take a moment to myself,” he said. “In that moment, I take a few deep breaths, say [a] prayer, and I’m ready to perform!” 

Even though a big part of the musical is with the actors, a performance would not be able to happen without an amazing tech crew. Junior Alyssa Ward has been working backstage on musicals and plays for 4 years now. Here is a little bit about what she has to say about her job. 

“A lot of my job along with all of the crew is to make sure the show runs as smoothly as possible,” she said. “All of us backstage are considered the ‘invisible workers’ because our job is to be as unseen as possible while still allowing everything to flow onstage, especially for the actors. My job mostly includes moving props or scene changes on and off stage and making sure that all of us backstage are as quiet as possible to allow the audience to capture the essence of the musical without seeing everyone rustling and shouting backstage.” 

To have such a successful musical it isn’t just about having the best actors but like how Brown would describe it as “family.” 

In order to produce a play or musical, so many different groups of people are required to collaborate and work together toward a common goal. In the Hoover Theatre Department, the students truly are a family, and working well together comes naturally. 

Not only do productions like this help young actors become better and get practice, it also impacts students like Weaver in other ways as well. 

“As a student, this production has had a big impact on me,” he said. “I’ve been able to become friends with many upper class mates, while also becoming even closer to whom I’m already friends with! I’ve also just learned to be happier because of this show, and that’s because of this show’s positive message!” 

While watching this amazing musical Brown gives us a moment that consistently gives her chills that you should look out for. 

“The end of Act I when the characters arrive in the Emerald City is an important part of the show, and when we get there, the orchestra plays a beautiful, classic melody and the characters are standing in their classic ‘The Wizard of Oz’ formation,” she said. “It’s a special moment.”