The Vandegrfit theatre department will be performing The Wizard of Oz. The play will take place on January 27, 28 and 29. The show is going to take place in the Vandegrift auditorium and tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. Joe Alonso, who is the theatre tech teacher, is directing the play. It is going to include musical numbers along with a set, costumes, makeup and dancing. 

“There’s a lot of set pieces that are still in the works, but so far it is coming together really nice,” crew member Dayna Ung said. “Since it is a theatre production, we have to make sure that it is portable, so it is not completely like the movie but we are making it pretty close.”

Now that the play is right around the corner, rehearsals have become a lot more time heavy for the cast. The crew is part of these rehearsals as well and are putting lots of work into making the set perfect for the first show next Thursday. 

“This week is tech week because next week is show week. So this week rehearsals are everyday after school from 4pm-7pm,” Sierra Kinelski, who is playing Aunt Em, said.  “Then on Saturday we have it from 9am-12pm, and last weekend we came from 12pm-5pm.”

There have been many versions of Wizard of Oz that have been made into a theatre production. Vandegrifts version has some twists, but is mostly modeled after the classic movie that came out in 1939. 

“I really like playing Dorothy because there’s a certain innocence about her, that’s almost childlike,” Rachel Zook said. “It’s really good that I get to reconnect with that part of myself, it was one of my favorite movies as a little kid and I was super excited when I heard that we were going to be doing it here.”

The cast and crew can’t wait to show off the hard work that they have put into this play and the small details they have included that are a bit different from the original movie. Make sure to get a ticket to The Wizard of Oz. 

“We have a massive crew for this show because there’s just so much to do,” Zook said. “There’s a bunch of costume and makeup changes and we’ve all just worked so hard and put so much time and effort into this show, I’m really excited to show it off.”