Dorothy meets a new challenge in Alexander Batcho Intermediate School’s production of ‘Oz’ — snow.
By: Mary Ellen Zangara
The old theater adage that the "show must go on" was tested over the weekend, as students at Alexander Batcho Intermediate School juggled performances of "The Wizard of Oz" because of the snowy weather.
Even though their first performance of "The Wizard of Oz" was canceled Friday night due to the snow, they still managed to put on two performances, one Saturday night and one Sunday afternoon.
The production was a big undertaking, with many students taking on more than one role.
On the stage, Lindsay Zaccardi (Dorothy), Shawn Kaminski (Scarecrow), Jessica Lubas (Tin Man) and Chris Jenner (Lion) found their way to Emerald City to see the Wizard (Nathan Schlosser).
But as in the familiar movie, the cast also included Auntie Em played by Veronica Matisak and Uncle Henry (David Janovsky, who also performed the role of the gatekeeper at Emerald City), Claire Kondash in the role of Glinda the Good Witch, and Brittany Lance as the Wicked Witch of the West.
There were also roles for two trees "Woody," also played by Veronica, and "Shady," performed by Natalie Lewicki.
The ABIS production included three munchkins Natalia Urbanowicz as Burly, Natalie as Curly and Katelyn Breese as Joe.
"Flying Monkeys" in the performance were Jake Caswell, Rebecca Giannatto and Paige Miller.
Four chorus members Andrea Ferentchak, Brooke Lathi, Ashley Ferentchak and Alyssa Silcox narrated the story and sang with the cast.
The famous songs of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "We’re Off to See the Wizard" and "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" were included and sung by the characters and cast.
Such a production takes a few months to prepare, and there are many others who contribute to it from behind the scenes, according to director and drama coach Leslie Strauss, a teacher at the high school.
In fact, help came not just from ABIS, but the high school and parents, too.
Besides Ms. Strauss, music teacher/band director Shawn Lindner also helped with the music in the play.
The set construction was headed up by parent Bob Kaminski, and the stage crew of Tyler Britt, Megan Kouril, DJ Leubner, Zack Milonski, Catina Santoro, Tim Santoro, CJ Schaefer and Matthew Trond worked behind the scenes with things like moving the props and making sure everything worked smoothly.
Catina and Tim, both MHS students, also worked the spotlights during the performances.
MHS drama student Johnny Pineda used his expertise by working the lines with all the performers. He has performed in the high school productions for the past few years.
Parents Andrea Jenner helped with all the costumes, Debbie Leubner did the ad sales for the program, and Jody Lubas was in charge of the ticket sales and the program.
Ms. Strauss was very proud of the students in this production and told them so.
"Over the past three months I have had the honor of watching you work diligently to learn your lines and memorize the music for the play," she said to the cast and crew of the show. "I hope that I have given you something to take away from this experience as I have found it truly rewarding to work with each and every one of you. Be proud of your accomplishments."