FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD

THE WIZARD OF OZ CAST; PHOTO BY FAWN BOSTON-HALTER

Clear Creek presented the 2024 Spring musical The Wizard of OZ from April 11th through 13th. It is directed by Fawn Boston-Halter (choreography director), Deb Kennedy (staging director), Tom Milligan (set director), Olivia Randall (costume director), and Tracy Williams (music director). Mrs. Williams has been directing musicals here at CCA for 12 years and loves what she does. She enjoys working with the talented students that allow the whole production to come together. She is excited about the fact that this year Toto will be played by a real dog, named Sanchez. She says that he is doing a great job so far. She goes on to talk about how the audience is going to love the special effects that come with this show, however, this is also the hardest part. There are a lot of technical factors that go into these special effects such as the lights, sets, and props. As for the cast themselves, Williams is impressed by Sina’s way of bringing the Wicked Witch to life on the stage. “This is a very challenging role and [she] is doing a great job!” 

The main cast of this production includes Lily Schloss as Dorothy, James Cavanary as the Lion, Andrew Cartier as the Tinman, Carson Brandt as the Scarecrow, Sina Thomas as the Wicked Witch of the West, Sydney Emmel as Glinda, and Evan Streit as the Wizard of Oz. Out of these actors Lily, Andrew, Sydney, and Evan are seniors. 

Sydney and James have both reached out and told about their experiences in the musical. In response to wanting the role they were given they both responded with yes. Sydney talked about how Glinda was always a dream role of hers and she loves the pink gown she gets to wear. Sydney’s favorite part of the production was “practicing with the little kids and watching them do their munchkin dance.” James also agreed that the Lion was also a dream role of his. James’ favorite part however was the great mesh that his character has with the Scarecrow and Tinman and how, “it is so fun to work with Carson and Andrew.” 

To get into the character of Glinda, Sydney pretends she’s in a beauty pageant, while James focuses on his voice and taps into the “little bit of silliness that I have.” to become the Lion. Sydney believed that the hardest part of this show was the dancing because of how fast it can get. James thought the hardest part was living up to the previous actors’ performances while still putting his own twist on the character. James agrees with Mrs. Williams that the best character brought to life was Sina’s character of the Wicked Witch. However, Sydney believes that the best character brought to life was the Wizard of Oz by Evan: “I just really think he brings something special to the character.”