CEDAR BLUFF, Va. -Students from Richlands High School Drama Club are taking their audience back to the land of Oz in an adaptation of the classic “Wizard of Oz,” a story that follows Dorothy as she is transported to a magical new world, getting a pair of ruby slippers in the process.
“It’s about a girl and she doesn’t know what she really wants in her life. She thinks that there’s more from her away from her family and away from place that she lives, but after being taken away and brought back, she realizes that all she really needed was the family that she had all along,” explains Isabella Lawson who is playing Dorothy.
The RHS Drama Club’s latest play was chosen to accommodate the theater group’s large cast, through a story that appeals to all generations, with the nineteen-thirty-nine movie still fondly remembered to this day.
“…Just the imagery…. I know it was one of the first movies that ended up in color, and people could see that in the colors that we’ve tried to introduce too, have been so rich and bright, and I think that’s what people appeal to. It’s just very eye-catching, very eye-popping… the singing and dancing just make it all come together, and I think that’s why it’s such a timeless classic,” says Jeremy Call, who is co-directing this play along with Christina Taylor.
Call says the students have been putting their “heart and soul” into the program, having been working on it since last December. That hard work seems to have paid off, with every performance almost selling out thus far.
“We have worked so hard on this. We have worked day in, day out…” says Makenna Cantrell, playing Glinda the Good Witch, “…Every time they see one of our shows, they’re like, ‘… that looks like a Barter [Theater] show. It doesn’t look like a high school production.”
The performers we spoke with say they’ve had a good time retelling this timeless story, with both saying it’s been a “dream come true” to bring these characters and the story to life.
“I just love how [Glinda’s] very bubbly, and she’s very sweet to everybody she meets,” says Cantrell.
“I’ve always loved where I live, and as many times as I’ve traveled away and came back, I’ve realized that I just love it here,” Lawson.
Those we spoke to encourage everyone to come to see this timeless story for themselves, with Lawson saying that supporting your local theater and the young thespians involved is great for the community.
If you would like to watch this performance of the Wizard of Oz, they will be holding more performances at 7:00pm, Thursday, March 27th and Saturday, March 29th at Southwest Virginia Community College. Tickets are ten dollars for adults, five dollars for children, and under three are free.
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