At the Sydney Russell School both students and staff members were involved in a school play called “The Wiz”. The play was adapted from the book ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ by William Frank Baum. The play focuses on a young girl whose name is Dorothy Gale, she lives with her Uncle Henry, Aunt Em and let’s not forget her dog Toto and they live on their farm in Kansas. Dorothy wishes of a new and exciting life away from their farm and in the play she gets more than what she wished for. A terrible tornado swept her and Toto to a mysterious land that we call Oz. Along the way Dorothy learns that the only way to get back to Kansas is to find The Wiz in the Emerald City. While on her journey she comes across new friends and dangerous paths but Dorothy is determined to get back to Kansas. Along the way she meets both noble and evil witches that try to deter her from her path to the Emerald City.

Will she follow the yellow brick road and find herself back in Kansas?

As soon as you walked into the hall you could hear an extremely talented band that featured both students and teachers from the school and they were playing while everybody was taking their seats which added a sense of professionalism even before the performance started. The backgrounds and props were particularly detailed, many art students used their free time to paint props and create the realistic backgrounds for The Wiz, they all went to a great effort to producing them.  The choreography of the dances were performed exceptionally with not one of the dancers out of time. They also had a wide variety of props and costumes and there were many modern twists on the costumes such as glittery trainers rather than slippers and instead of a heart for the tin man there was a heart balloon and the lion was given a drink for courage. Most of the actors had microphone headsets, they were wireless and looked professional.  The cast had fantastic acting skills even though for some of them it was their first time taking part in a school musical and performing in front of an audience. All of the actors were confident with their lines and they acted with maturity throughout the musical and they didn’t break character.

The lead actress Crystabel who played Dorothy said “I was excited and nervous to play the lead of the musical because it is my first time playing such an essential role, it was a big achievement for me. ‘I worked my way up each time I participated in the musicals, I started out in the chorus and got a more significant role every time I was in the school musicals.” She also said that she spent hours reading her lines and they practiced for three days a week after school, they also practiced on the weekend before the play for an incredible 6 hours. Crystabel said that she “enjoyed working with the other cast and it gave me an insight into the other year groups who were participating in the play, I made connections with people I wouldn’t generally talk to.”

This is the first school play that I have ever been to and I have to admit it was a memorable performance that I am likely to never forget. I was wonderfully surprised by the musical, there were hardly any mistakes and the few that did occur were promptly covered up by the cast with their fantastic improvisation skills. I can honestly say that ‘The Wiz’ fulfilled my high expectations, it was a modern twist on a classic tale.  A massive congratulation to all the performers and to everybody back stage who put time and effort into making ‘The Wiz’ into an amazing show for all the community to enjoy. 

Written by Katie Trebes