With a cast of nearly 50, the Gatewood Players presented “The Wizard of Oz” last week as the inaugural production on Gatewood’s new stage in the auditorium that doubles as the lunchroom on school days.
Founded several years ago by music and drama teacher Beth Mappes (pronounced “Mappis”), the Gatewood Players include students from grades three through 12, though Mappes said grade 10 is the highest involved in the school’s “Wizard of Oz” presentation.
“We have a very small school, so a lot of our older students are busy with sports and other things, so it is hard to get them in,” Mappes explained, adding that beyond the lead characters, mostly third, fourth, and fifth graders made up the cast for the “Oz” production.
“The ones that you see that are older have been with me for five or six years now, which is my favorite part about doing it with the kids,” she added.
Lead roles included 4th grader Kami Hicks as Dorothy with Eleanor Rocker frequently stealing the show as her little dog, Toto, sixth graders Maddie Tintle as the Tin Man, Walker Crowder as the Scarecrow, and Clyde Thrift as the Cowardly Lion. Caylin Stancil played Glinda the Good Witch, while Eliana Wofford was the Wicked Witch of the West.
“And Ava Todd, who plays the Wizard and Professor Marvel, she’s in 10th grade now and I think she’s done every single show with me,” Mappes said. “She’s competed in literary, too, in the oral interpretation, and I don’t know she would’ve done that without all her background in theater, so there are other benefits, too.”
A packed house enjoyed the production that included slightly shortened versions of most of the familiar songs and dialogue of the original stage musical and numerous “Wizard of Oz” movies, the most famous still being the 1939 version starring Judy Garland as Dorothy.
Mappes explained that casting was completed late last year before rehearsals for the show began early in January. She said the cast typically rehearsed after school twice a week, and she would alternate sessions between lead actors and mostly secondary and background characters, before finally entering full rehearsals early in March.
“We did a full-dress rehearsal for the school. That was our final dress rehearsal, and then we did two performances for the parents,” she said. “Especially with the younger kids, it’s a pretty intensive show, and they’re all working backstage too, so they’re doing everything pretty much. I do have some adults helping, but we’re really trying to teach the kids not only about being on stage, but also how to be backstage crew members.”
Mappes added that she also teaches a middle school One Act elective class at Gatewood. After finishing its One Act festival in February, she recruited the class of six girls to work on props and sets for “The Wizard of Oz.”
“So, they have made all the props, all the scenery, just about everything. I couldn’t have done it without them,” Mappes said of Ansleigh Hubert, Lilly Kent Rainey, Caylin Stancil, Maddie Tintle, Lilly Weems, and Ellie Wofford.
Also helping in the production were stage manager Kristy Hicks, Jessica Womack on costumes and makeup, and building the sets were Gatewood senior Blake Daniels with Mappes’ husband Scott, who also mixed the live sound for the show.
Mappes said she was pleased with the new stage and space for theater productions at Gatewood and thanked the school’s parents for their recent generosity in funding the purchase of an onstage curtain and sound system.
“I just appreciate that we have such supportive parents and administration here. I mean, for me, the performing arts are so important, and I just am so thankful that Gatewood allows us to do so much with them and that we get such support from our community, because it means so much to the kids,” Mappes said. “And even if they’re not necessarily going to stay with it their whole life, you just never know where it can take them. I mean, I have kids that I directed that do shows now as adults, so you just never know.”