The Wizard of OZ
presented by
South Arkansas Arts Center
and Murphy USA
MAY 15 Summer of OZ Pre-Party 7PM
Enjoy a fun evening with friends at SAAC and learn more about all things Summer. Register for Summer Camps! Get an audition packet for “The Wizard of OZ.” Meet the staff! Ask questions!
MAY 30 Kids Only Auditions 10AM
Kids 7-16 for Ensemble Roles
JUNE 1&2 AUDITIONS 6PM
Adults and Kids age 13up for Principal Roles and Ensemble
Attend Either or Both Nights
Registration Begins at 5:30pm
July 16-26 The Wizard of OZ
Performance Dates
Print an Audition Packet
Preparing for Auditions
Wear Comfortable Clothes & Appropriate Footwear. Fill out an Audition Form and Come Prepared To:
Kids Only Auditions for Ensemble Chorus • May 30
Open to children 7-16 who are not auditioning for a principal character.
Everyone will be taught a dance movement, play theatre improv games and learn a song from the show, “The Merry Old Land of Oz.” Anyone under the age of 18, must have a parent or guardian also sign the audition form.
Auditions for Principals and Ensemble Chorus • June 1&2
Open to adults and children 13up auditioning for all roles except Munchkins.
Everyone will learn a simple dance combination, read from the script, and sing a song (unless auditioning for a non-singing role). Please be prepared to sing one verse and a chorus from a song of your choice. Select something that is comfortable within your vocal range and bring the accompaniment sheet music. A musical theatre piece not from this show is preferred but you may choose to sing something familiar to you, such as a classic music standard. If you are called back for a specific part, you will be asked to sing a song from the show. For more information call the SAAC office at 862-5474.
Cast List, Song Titles and Sound Clips
FUN and Open Show that Needs All Physical Types!
Principal Roles singing and non-singing, Very Large Ensemble Chorus and Dancers Needed
PRINCIPAL ROLES (4 female & 5 male)
Dorothy
Aunt Em, non-singing role
Uncle Henry / Emerald City Guard
Glinda, the Good Witch of the North
Scarecrow / Hunk, a farmhand
Tinman / Hickory, a farmhand
Lion / Zeke, a farmhand
Wicked Witch of the West / Miss Almira Gulch – non-singing role
Wizard of Oz / Professor Chester Marvel – non-singing role
CHORUS ENSEMBLE
Munchkins – Citizens of Munchkin Land
Munchkin Mayor – speaking
Munchkin Barrister – speaking
Munchkin Coroner – speaking
Munchkin Fiddler – speaking
City Fathers – speaking
Three Munchkin Tots – speaking
Three Tough Munchkin Kids – speaking
Three Crows – male trio
w/ Scarecrow
Three Trees – female trio w/ Tinman
Poppinks – females in the Field of Poppies
Snowmen – males in the Field of Poppies
Ozians – Citizens of OZ
2 OZ men – speaking
2 OZ women – speaking
Winkies – male chorus, Wicked Witch’s Guards
Winkie General
Winged Monkeys – Wicked Witch’s Army
Nikko – commander of monkeys
Jitterbug – a lead dancer
Jitterbugs & Ghosts – puppeteers
Offstage Voices – female chorus
Cyclone Dancers – lead dance corps
SONGS
Over the Rainbow
by Dorothy
Munchkinland (Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead)
by Glinda, Dorothy and Munchkins
Yellow Brick Road
by Munchkins
If I Only Had a Brain
by Scarecrows, Dorothy and Crows
We’re Off to See the Wizard
by Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman, Lion
If I Only Had a Heart
by Tinman, Dorothy and Trees
If I Only Had the Nerve
by Lion with Dorothy, Tinman and Scarecrow
Poppies
by Glinda, Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman, Lion, Poppinks & Snowmen Chorus
Optimistic Voices (Act 2 Entr’acte)
by Girls Chorus
The Merry Old Land of Oz
by Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow, Lion, Guard and Ozians
If I Were King of the Forest
by Lion with Dorothy, Tinman and Sarecrow
March of the Winkies
by Winkies
Jitterbug
by Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow, Lion and Jitterbugs
Winkies March & Reprise: Over the Rainbow
by Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow, Lion and Winkies
Reprise: Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead
by Winkies
Sound clips are links to the Tams-Whitmark Music Library Inc. official The Wizard Of Oz (R.S.C. 1987) page
Meet the Staff
Director Darrin Riley 
Darrin has worked in community, regional, and professional theatre in the United States and the United Kingdom for over 30 years. He has also worked within film, fashion, and television in San Diego and Los Angeles, California. Darrin has designed for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Emmy and Academy Awards. At SAAC, he has directed Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, Agnes of God, Cabaret, Chicago, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and Willy Wonka. He is currently the Drama Instructor and an Artist in Education for SAAC.
Choreographer Stacy Hawking
Stacy is a senior BFA Musical Theatre major at Ouachita Baptist University. She has been seen in many productions at OBU including Shrek (Ensemble / Dance Captain), and Hello, Dolly! (Ensemble / Assistant Choreographer / Dance Captain) and many main stage productions at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. She has been an assistant choreographer for the Rep’s SMTI program for the last 5 years. She’s choreographed for OBU’s Festival of Christmas for the last two years and the Ouachita Sounds for the last three years
About the Script
Like so many girls her age, little Dorothy Gale of Kansas dreams of what lies over the rainbow. One day a twister hits her farm and carries her away over the rainbow to another world. Come join Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tinman, the Cowardly Lion and Toto as they travel the universe of Dorothy’s imagination. Of the two version available, SAAC is producing the one that is the more technically complex production and uses as much of the aura of the film as is possible to create in a modern theatre. It is an adaption for live stage performance, even while it strives to look and sound just like the famous film, in telling the story. Originally presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Centre in London in 1987, there is more work for the chorus singers and small vocal ensembles in the music material for this version.
The Wizard Of Oz (R.S.C. 1987) By L. Frank Baum
With Music and Lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg
Background Music by Herbert Stothart
Dance and Vocal Arrangements by Peter Howard
Orchestration by Larry Wilcox
Adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company
Based upon the Classical Motion Picture owned by Turner Entertainment Co. and distributed in all media by Warner Bros.
Dorothy Gale, a young girl who lives on a farm in Kansas with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, gets in the way while the adults try to work. She finds a quiet place where she won’t get into any trouble -Over The Rainbow. The girl is upset because their mean neighbor, Miss Gulch, presents her with a Sheriff’s summons for her cherished dog, Toto. Toto escapes from Miss Gultch’s bicycle basket and joins Dorothy as she runs away from the farm. They meet up with kind Professor Marvel, who convinces her to go back home. A cyclone hits the area, and Dorothy and Toto are locked out of the family’s storm cellar. They go into her room in the house, where Dorothy is accidently hit on the head. This begins their journey to the Land of Oz.
When she wakes up in Oz, Dorothy is greeted by Glinda, the Witch of the North (who has an uncanny resemblance to Aunt Em.) Upon landing, Dorothy’s house inadvertently lands on and fatally strikes the Wicked Witch of the East. This frees the Munchkins from the Wicked Witch of the East’s power, so they now consider Dorothy their heroine -Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead & Munchkin Musical Sequence. The Wicked Witch of the West (Miss Gulch) comes to avenge her sister’s death and to claim her sister’s magic ruby slippers, only to find that Glinda has already put them on Dorothy’s feet. The Wicked Witch of the West has a new challenge – to get those slippers for herself. Dorothy wants to go back home to Kansas, but the Munchkins tell her the only one who may help her get back home is the Wizard of Oz. So Dorothy is off to see the Wizard -Yellow Brick Road.
Along the way she meets three new friends and travel companions. The Scarecrow (Hunk, the first of Uncle Henry’s farmhands) explains why he needs to see the Wizard in If I Only Had A Brain. The Tinman (Hickory) joins them because his life would be better If I Only Had A Heart and the Lion (Zeke) comes along -If I Only Had The Nerve. All four sing We’re Off To See The Wizard.
The Wicked Witch of the West makes her second unsuccessful attempt to get Dorothy’s ruby slippers when Dorothy is with the Scarecrow and the Tinman. But she fails to scare them. Her next plan includes the Lion, and involves a beautiful field of poppies with a poisonous scent. Glinda rescues the travelers by turning the poppies into snowflakes -Poppies.
Our travelers arrive at the Emerald City to be discouraged from entering by the Gatekeeper (Uncle Henry). He finally lets them in -Merry Old Land Of Oz. Before they are allowed to meet the Wizard, the travelers must be cleaned up by the Osians. Even after they prepare for the meeting, the Wizard refuses to meet them. The Wicked Witch appears again. The lion fantasizes in King Of The Forest. The guard finally brings them to the Wizard, but the four friends must prove themselves worthy of the Wizard’s help by bringing him the Wicked Witch of the West’s broomstick. The only way to get her broomstick would be to kill her. So off the foursome goes, to the land of the Winkies (the Wicked Witch’s slaves) and the Wicked Witch’s castle.
The group is in the haunted forest filled with jitterbugs that spook them. The jitterbugs make them dance until they all collapse from exhaustion – Jitterbug and then the Wicked Witch’s flying monkeys swoop down and capture Dorothy and Toto. At the castle the Wicked Witch again fails to take the ruby slippers off Dorothy’s feet, so threatens Dorothy with her life. Toto manages to escape. The Lion, Scarecrow and Tinman recover from the poppies’ scent, and make it to the castle to rescue Dorothy. Toto meets them at the entrance, and they sneak in, wearing Winkie uniforms, as part of the Winkie army. The foursome and Toto are reunited, but the Wicked Witch prevents their escape. The Wicked Witch becomes even meaner and threatens the Scarecrow with fire on her broomstick. Dorothy throws a bucket of water at the fire and ends up dousing the Wicked Witch. The Wicked Witch screams, smoulders and shrinks. She melts into nothing. -Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead (reprise). The foursome take the broom back to the Wizard.
The Wizard is again reluctant to see the travelers, but Toto playfully pulls aside the curtain that separates the Wizard from them. An ordinary man (Professor Marvel) speaking into a microphone is revealed. As the Wizard he performs graduation exercises, giving the Scarecrow a Dr. of Thinkology, making the Lion a member of the Legion of Courage and giving the Tinman a heart-shaped watch. He offers to take Dorothy back to Kansas in his hot-air balloon. The balloon accidently takes off without Dorothy and Toto, but Glinda saves the day. She explains to Dorothy that all this time, Dorothy has had the power herself to go home. All she has to do is close her eyes, tap her heels together three times and repeat to herself “there’s no place like home.”
Back in Kansas the storm is over. Dorothy wakes up confused, with a bump on her head. She and Toto were not the only ones who had an adventure during the storm. Miss Gulch was hit by a telegraph pole and broke her leg. At least Miss Gulch won’t be bothering Toto for a while. Dorothy appreciates her family and friends even more than ever.
The Wizard of Oz online
Print an Audition Packet
Just for fun, here is an interesting video from the computer artist that remastered the original 1939 movie with 3D graphics. Enjoy!!