By JULES SHINKLE
BG Independent News
Now that “Wicked” mania has settled down, it’s time for a refresher on the source material.
The Bowling Green Middle School Drama Club is performing L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 13-14) at 7 p.m in the Bowling Green City Schools Performing Arts Center. Admission is free.
Directing the play is BGMS student Adelyn Davis, who chose to do “The Wizard of Oz.” The rest of the student-led production team includes Sam Shaal, assistant director; Quinn Frost, stage manager; and Calvin Corney, assistant stage manager.
Davis leads a cast and crew of roughly 40, including a flock of flying monkeys, four witches, a gaggle of Winkies, a few flowers, and the talking dog Toto.
If a few of those characters sound unfamiliar, that’s because this adaptation follows the original book closer than the 1939 movie. Toto being able to talk is Davis’s own touch.
“This is our biggest cast by far,” said Kim Stevens, one of the teacher advisors for the Drama Club.
“Some of these kids have been with us since 6th grade, so this is their third play,” she said. “Each year, it keeps getting a little bigger, a little bigger, a little bigger.”
[RELATED: Dream comes true with launch of student-driven drama club at BG Middle School]
After advising the club since its founding, she plans to step down from the role after this year. Stevens is handing the reins off to second-year teacher Roman Sommer with this production. As teacher advisors, their responsibilities involve procuring the costumes, planning the set, and giving acting instruction.
A big part of the job is “figuring out what is plausible to do, and helping the kids through that process so they can see what it looks like from middle school up into high school,” Sommer said. “We do everything on a budget, so we try to use what we already have.”
All the same, the cast and crew’s hard work shines through. The characters’ costumes look exceptional, as does the painted backdrop depicting the Land of Oz.
Between the ad-libbed jokes and beaming smiles, it’s obvious how much the students enjoy taking to the stage. Stevens summed it up nicely: “It gives kids a voice.”
”
