Rosebud Theatre’s Wizard of Oz a summer treat

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

The Wizard of Oz opened on Rosebud Theatre’s Opera House May 29 and runs until Sept. 5. Every minute of this musical play is fun, and it’s a show you’ll want to take your whole family to see.
The main characters – especially Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and the farmhands – are endearing right from the beginning. I feel like they’re the kind of people we’d all love to have living next door, and maybe, if we’re lucky enough, they already do. Cassia Schramm is a cute young Dorothy, and Laura Gillespie plays a nasty Miss Gulch.
When Dorothy lands in Oz, she sees Aunt Em (Marie Russell) as Glinda the Good Witch, Uncle Henry (Duval Lang) as the Palace Guard, and Miss Gulch as the Wicked Witch of the West. The farmhands become the Scarecrow (Joel Stephanson), the Tin Man (David Snider), and the Cowardly Lion (Andrew Legg). All the key actors deliver great performances, but for me, these three steal the show.
Stephanson is a convincingly boneless Scarecrow, especially hilarious when tiny Schramm rescues him from falling over. Legg, whose full, unruly mane is all his own hair, is an adorably terrified Lion, standing on a chair to sing about being King of the Forest – until he remembers his fear of heights. Snider is a remarkably stiff and still Tin Man until his joints get oiled.
This show has constant action, great music and frequent one-liners that filled the whole theatre with laughter. The 12-year-old with us loved it as much as we adults did, though it’s a long play and she was fighting to stay awake near the end. She bought ruby slippers in the Rosebud Gift Shop, and the next morning, she persuaded her grandparents to walk and sing with her down the Yellow Brick Road.
You can get your Wizard of Oz tickets at rosebudtheatre.com or 1-800-267-7553. I expect tickets will sell rapidly, so you’ll likely want to book yours soon. It’ll make a sweet summer outing for family or friends.