Live Arts Presents: “The Wizard of Oz”
The staged play of The Wizard of Oz, directed by John Gibson, opened on Nov. 22 at Live Arts in Charlottesville. This take on the classic film features the musical score of the 1939 film along with scenes not shown in the movie. Even though Gibson was working directly from the original script, he still found ways to make a new experience for audience members.
“There’s a lot of silent pieces, silent choices, that creates a different backstory than just ‘oh we’re going to go to the theater and watch The Wizard of Oz play,” said Misty Vredenburg, a member of the cast. “There’s a lot of subtext going on and a lot more that you can take away,” she said.
Vredenburg said that going into this, Gibson already had a deep attachment to the play and wanted to use the play to explore deeper themes and ideas. “When are we our real authentic selves? When are we acting? When are we playing a role within our lives?” These, Vredenburg said, are all themes explored during the show.
The cast of Wizard of Oz began rehearsing at the beginning of September. Vredenburg said that the auditioning process was not a typical audition. Actors were asked to prepare a song and sing it while doing various movement exercises together for two hours straight. After the cast had been selected, the rehearsal process began. Gibson, who lives full time in Atlanta, Georgia, could not be there for half of the rehearsals. “The real consistency was the cast,” said Vredenburg, “We’re really tight as a group because we’re onstage almost the whole time together.” Being a tight-knit group meant this cast had a lot of flexibility during the show; parts could be swapped, cues could be picked up, and on stage tasks could be handled for one another if need be.
This flexibility was needed, as the show required actors to learn up to four parts and be able to perform any of them on any given night. In fact, the actors who played Glinda and the wicked witch of the west did not know which role they would be playing until the show had already started, their roles being decided on stage by a coin flip. Vredenburg said that this decision is used to “address the idea of good and evil, like the simplicity of our culture and storytelling.”
The Wizard of Oz will run from Nov. 22 to Dec. 15. Its run time is around 2 hours, and the cost of tickets is between $30 and $35. Viewers young and old can enjoy this show and delve as far as they wish into the magical land of Oz. Learn more on Live Art’s website and find tickets here.
