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Arts & Entertainment

Crystal Lake South High School Presents "The Wizard Of Oz"

     The “Wizard of Oz” will be performed by members of the Crystal Lake South Fine Arts Department this February. The show will be on Friday February 18th and 25th at 7 p.m., and Saturday February 19th and 26th at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

      The musical will star a number of seniors this year - Samantha Ivers, Amanda Kindred, Mike Wood, Garrett Gassensmith, Phil Hespen, Karolyn Brower and Jacob Villec.  Sophomore’s Randy Luken and Lucas Black along with Freshman Neal Overbay are also part of the performance.  Senior Brie Aschoff will be the production assistant, and Senior Andrew Ebert, Junior Kristen Knaak, and Senior Keri Ryan will be stage managers.

      “We’ve set an impressive budget and pulled out all of the stops,” said Mr. Stoner, the Director. The production will feature a real dog playing Dorothy’s (played by Ivers) pet dog Toto, as well as 31 elementary school students playing the Munchkins, and a lot of special effects, including flight.

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     “Don’t expect it to be exactly like the movie, it will be better in different ways,” said Villec, who plays Professor Marvel and the Wizard of Oz.

      Among the differences between the movie and this musical is that Mr. Stoner has decided to keep the jitterbug scene. The scene was a long song and dance number cut from the final movie where Dorothy and her friends (Luken, Gassensmith, and Hespen) are enchanted by strange creatures in the forest (played by the chorus) sent by the Wicked Witch of the West (played by Brower).

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     “It’s a fun scene, with the chorus involved in the second act,” said Mr. Stoner.

     When asked why he chose the “the Wizard of Oz”, Mr. Stoner said, “It’s such a familiar piece…and I wanted to keep the momentum going from ‘Seussical.’”

By Jessica Ott (Student of CLS)

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