Oz crew promises ‘something special’ in ambitious production

WASILLA — It’s Wednesday night and, to an empty house, Dorothy is singing about her dreams of a land over the rainbow.

Meanwhile backstage, school-age munchkins are getting their faces painted and men and women in soldier hats with tiny fake arms sewn into their jackets are carrying trellises festooned with paper flowers.

Overseeing it all, flashlight in hand to light the dark back stage, is stage manager Janet Kennedy. She’s giving actors their cues, and every once in awhile telling them to quiet down.

It’s a rehearsal night for “The Wizard of Oz,” one of many already completed with many more planned before opening night of March 23. “The Wizard of Oz” is one of the biggest and most ambitious projects the Valley’s small community theater group has attempted thus far.

Later on stage, Dorothy, played by Katy Schmidt, hears the munchkins mumbling behind those flower-festooned trellises. Glinda the good witch urges the munchkins to “come out, come out wherever you are” and the stage fills front to back with more than two-dozen fully costumed kids and adults.

Seeing that, it’s amazing that Kennedy only had to tell such a huge group of kids to quite down a couple times. That they’re so good at containing their excitement, director Larry Bottjen said, actually took quite a bit of effort.

“We held five days of auditions for kids,” Bottjen said.

They were looking for a quadruple threat, he said — kids who can sing, dance, act and behave.

“We did a really good job of being able to separate those who were the best of the best,” Bottjen said.

Garry Forrester, who plays the Tin Woodsman, said that a lot of those kids are actually children of adult actors who also were cast in the play. Family is part of the equation with VPA.

“There’s at least seven to eight family units in this thing, including mine,” Forrester said. “My kids are helping out.”

Bottjen said that’s something he encourages.

“I just like the synergy of the family groups because for me that’s what community theater is,” Bottjen said.

Most of the chaos backstage — controlled chaos, to be sure — actually involved set pieces. Diana Jobin-Vig, who plays Miss Gultch and the Wicked Witch of the West, had trouble finding a spot to park her bicycle amidst the trellises, a footbridge and a gazebo that also were competing for space.

Before they went out on stage, chicken cages and other Kansas farm scene set pieces had to come through the staging area and out the back door into a trailer VPA has parked out back to house the excess scenery.

Actors and crew, including Steve O’Brien, who plays the Wizard, had to follow them outside to keep out of the way of moving set pieces.

At intermission, after Dorothy has already met the Woodsman, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion, actors file out and take seats in the audience. The Lion, played by Dave Nufer, stays in character, talking like Snagglepuss as he greets people already in the seats.

Bottjen tells the cast that he’s got five pages of notes for them.

“The fact that I have five pages of notes is a very fine thing,” he says. “I don’t bother with notes if you aren’t close.”

It’s so close, Bottjen said afterward, that they’ve already put in 95 percent of the work.

“It’s not about the first 95 percent that you accomplish, that’s not important, what’s important is the last 5 percent,” he said. “That last 5 percent is what really creates a good show.”

And he’s aiming to give the audience a great show.

“They’re in for something special,” he said.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.

What: Valley Performing Arts presents “The Wizard of Oz”

Where: Machetanz Theater, 251 W. Swanson Ave., near Wonderland Park, Wasilla

When: March 23 through April 29, with shows Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.

Cost: Tickets are $25 for adults and $23 for students and seniors; available at the theater or online at valleyperformingarts.org.