Wizard of Oz | spectrum-newspaper

Canton High's Drama Club Performs 'The Wizard of Oz'

By: Aaron Scibelli

Things were getting magical while the Canton High drama club went on its journey down the yellow brick road last week. The iconic tale, complete with young munchkins, flying monkeys, and more, ran from November 17th through the 19th.

While the CHS drama department has tackled some mature topics in the past few years, director Katie Brobst wanted to go in a different direction this year. “It’s an iconic story and is very family friendly with a good message about friendship and being true to yourself,” she stated. She believes that “anyone ages 1 to 100 enjoyed [the show].”

Emma Cummings, a drama club veteran here at CHS, was delighted to be playing the lead role of Dorothy Gale. “Dorothy has always been my dream role. I grew up watching the movie and was thrilled when I heard it would be our show for the fall!” She also added that she “loved all the special moments with everyone on and off stage.”

While Emma has been doing drama since her freshman year, for others, their journey to the Emerald City was a brand new experience. When asked about joining Drama Club in her junior year, Euniss Yoyo claimed that “the community in Drama Club is like one big family…everyone is super welcoming and inclusive.” While she was naturally nervous, she was also “super excited for [her] debut” and was “really excited to see where the play would land.”

As well as rehearsing the show leading up to the big weekend, the cast and crew was busy bringing the magic of live theatre to the younger members of our community. On the morning of Monday the 13th, multiple members of the cast visited the elementary schools around Canton to greet and interact with the students. In addition, multiple elementary schoolers had the opportunity to come to CHS and watch a special matinee preview performance on the morning of Thursday the 16th. The show officially opened at 7 pm on Friday, November 17th, with its final performances playing Saturday the 18th at 4 pm and Sunday the 19th at 2 pm.

Though their time in Oz is up, the CHS drama department is far from done this year. The club will begin gearing up for its student-led one act plays the week after Thanksgiving, with the Spring production ‘Legally Blonde’ auditions following soon after. As they say, there’s no rest for the wicked (witch)!

Photo by Meryl Prendergast

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