Wizard of Oz hits stage

By Melissa Piche Times Contributor

There’s no place like the stage for the Strathmore High School (SHS) drama students who are busy readying themselves for the opening night of The Wizard of Oz.

Drama teacher Deanne Bertsch said this production has been cast five ways this time. 

“(The drama students are) so good that I just can’t put them in chorus roles – I need to give them something a little more challenging,” said Bertsch. “They’re getting together on their own after school and having little cast rehearsals with each other so that makes me really proud of them.” 

Bertsch is always so welcoming of any younger student eager to be a part of her productions. This time around she has joined forces with the École Brentwood’s music director Loralee Laycock to incorporate the music students from Brentwood into this production. 

“(Laycock) is part of my collaborative group at Golden Hills (School Division) and so I asked her if she would be willing to do some work with her kids,” said Bertsch of the 20 students from Grades 2-6 who joined the cast as munchkins and jitterbugs. “The little ones love working with the big kids too.”

Bertsch said there are between 70 and 80 students total in this production including the Brentwood students

This version of The Wizard of Oz is a youth version of the show. 

“It’s only an hour which is what I wanted because we are performing it for elementary kids during the week, but it does follow the movie line for sure,” said Bertsch. “All the same characters, all the same songs and it’s just a more manageable length.” 

Aurora Kruger (14) is a Grade 10 student at SHS. This is her first big drama production with the school. “It’s going really well,” said Kruger, who plays the Lion in one of the castings. “There’s quite a few jokes, a lot of great actors and singers.” 

Ella Peterson is a Grade 11 student at SHS and she has been in many drama productions at the school.

“My main part is Dorothy and I’ll have three shows with that,” said Peterson, who is a munchkin, a jitterbug, and an Ozian when she’s not Dorothy. “It’s been really fun. I think this one is definitely more children and family-focus based. I think it’s really fun to do one that’s more for kids. It’s kind of magical to create that story and that they’ll be able to connect (with).” 

Peterson said one of her favourite things about this production is when she isn’t her main part, Dorothy, she loves reacting to every little thing. 

“When were munchkins, we’re scared of the wicked witch and I had a really fun time reacting to that as a munchkin,” said Peterson. “Being able to connect and create a show like this has been really fun.”

Tavish Foshaug (17) is a Grade 12 student. He is playing the main role of the Scarecrow and also the ensemble cast. Foshaug has performed in a number of productions for the drama program at SHS, most notably as Willard in Footloose. 

“It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had,” he said. “It has been really fun figuring out the character (Scarecrow) and figuring out the movements and the voice. The (audience) is in for an amazing experience seeing the original Wizard of Oz story told from the perspective of these teenagers and kids.” 

The Wizard of Oz runs Dec. 14-15 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Dec. 16-18 at 7 p.m. Tickets can be reserved in advance by calling 403-821-3203 or purchased at the door. Tickets are $10 each.