Brookwood’s Wizard of Oz sweeps audience off their feet
The Thomasville Municipal Auditorium stage came to life over the weekend as Brookwood students took audience members to the magical world of Oz, complete with dancing jitterbugs, witches, and munchkins.
Under the direction of New York City-based artistic director and choreographer Tara Lynn Steele, the show brought a new life to a traditional story. Complete with fire, cables for flying, and live animals, the Wizard of Oz had never seemed more realistic.
Steele said the show was a perfect fit for the students at Brookwood, most of whom she had worked with in last year’s production of Footloose.
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Under the direction of New York City-based artistic director and choreographer Tara Lynn Steele, the show brought a new life to a traditional story. Complete with fire, cables for flying, and live animals, the Wizard of Oz had never seemed more realistic.
Steele said the show was a perfect fit for the students at Brookwood, most of whom she had worked with in last year’s production of Footloose.
“I knew that we had brought in a lot of new kids, so we wanted to keep bringing in the younger ones, and the Wizard of Oz was the perfect way to do that,” Steele said.
Not only did the Wizard of Oz bring about multiple younger students to characterize the munchkins, jitterbugs, and winkies, it also struck a special chord with Steele, who said the Wizard of Oz was the first musical that made her fall in love with theater.
“I used to run around with olives on my fingers screaming ‘I’ll get you my pretty’ with my dog while chasing my dad,” Steele said, laughing at the memory.
Having such a profound impact on Steele’s career, she was thrilled to bring The Wizard of Oz to the stage as the new Artistic Director and could not have been more happy with the outcome.
After more than 110 hours of rehearsal over the past month, the cast and crew took to the stage on Friday night and delivered a performance even Glinda the Good Witch couldn’t top.
“They were wonderful,” Steele said. “There are 92 kids in the show and three adults, along with a live dog. It’s a lot of things happening at once, but it came together beautifully and I couldn’t have been prouder.”
Not only did the Wizard of Oz bring about multiple younger students to characterize the munchkins, jitterbugs, and winkies, it also struck a special chord with Steele, who said the Wizard of Oz was the first musical that made her fall in love with theater.
“I used to run around with olives on my fingers screaming ‘I’ll get you my pretty’ with my dog while chasing my dad,” Steele said, laughing at the memory.
Having such a profound impact on Steele’s career, she was thrilled to bring The Wizard of Oz to the stage as the new Artistic Director and could not have been more happy with the outcome.
After more than 110 hours of rehearsal over the past month, the cast and crew took to the stage on Friday night and delivered a performance even Glinda the Good Witch couldn’t top.
“They were wonderful,” Steele said. “There are 92 kids in the show and three adults, along with a live dog. It’s a lot of things happening at once, but it came together beautifully and I couldn’t have been prouder.”
Many of the new additions that made the performance so spectacular were brought by Steele’s team, including cables to help Dorothy (Reagan Burrus) fly during the twister, and the flying monkeys under the spell of the Wicked Witch (Lynleigh Moore).
“I brought a whole team together, because the kids only get one month of theater, and they have so many other activities throughout the year,” she said. “I wanted to take the show to new heights.”
Known for her aerial work in New York, Steele found a way to incorporate silks and lyra through the tornado dancers and jitterbug scene. To help, she brought in ZFX Flying out of Louisville, KY.
Flight director Shad Ramsey then instructed the various actors and actresses on how to achieve the flying effect they were trying to achieve.
“He and I created the flight choreography together,” she said.
The energy from the new and inventive scenes was palpable and was one of the things Steele appreciated most about this year’s cast.
“The amount of energy the kids bring to me, it’s just so fun to see them come in every day and make choices and be excited to do that,” she said.
Steele’s hope it that through this new and inventive choreography, word of mouth will spread and even more kids will join in next year’s production.
“I brought a whole team together, because the kids only get one month of theater, and they have so many other activities throughout the year,” she said. “I wanted to take the show to new heights.”
Known for her aerial work in New York, Steele found a way to incorporate silks and lyra through the tornado dancers and jitterbug scene. To help, she brought in ZFX Flying out of Louisville, KY.
Flight director Shad Ramsey then instructed the various actors and actresses on how to achieve the flying effect they were trying to achieve.
“He and I created the flight choreography together,” she said.
The energy from the new and inventive scenes was palpable and was one of the things Steele appreciated most about this year’s cast.
“The amount of energy the kids bring to me, it’s just so fun to see them come in every day and make choices and be excited to do that,” she said.
Steele’s hope it that through this new and inventive choreography, word of mouth will spread and even more kids will join in next year’s production.
Brookwood School
Located in Thomasville, GA, Brookwood School is a private school for grades JK-12. Students benefit from a challenging academic program, fine and performing arts, competitive athletics, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.