A young girl from Kansas once said, “There’s no place like home.”
The students in Union City High School’s Fine and Performing Arts department are learning just how true that is.
Students who once practiced in hallways and performed in the high school gym will be presenting their first annual spring musical, “The Wiz,” in their new theater home in their brand new high school on Kennedy Blvd. next weekend.
“It’s such a big production,” said Arianna Cummings, a senior who plays Addaperle the Good Witch. “The collaboration between the actors and the dancers; putting everything together, it’s hard.”
All of the students agreed that there is a mixture of excitement and intimidation as they prepare to perform in their new, state-of-the-art theater.
“It’s such an outrageous show,” said the “Tin Man” Elliot Santiago.
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“It’s been a very long process,” said Director and Teacher Jack O’Connor. “And it has to be. A lot of them have jobs or other activities after school. We work the schedule around every individual.”
The motley group of performers includes an aspiring pastor, rocker, future educators, and a scientist. But the group bands together with a passion for performance.
Different from ‘Oz’
“The Wiz” premiered on Broadway in 1975 with popular songstress Stephanie Mills as Dorothy. It is a retelling of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” which originated as a book in 1900 and was eventually developed into the famous musical film starring Judy Garland in 1939. It gave a hip, African-American twist on the classic story and garnered seven Tony Awards in its first year.
In 1978 it was adapted to the silver screen featuring a star-studded cast including Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Richard Pryor, and Lena Horne.
Becoming the part
“It’s such an outrageous show,” said the Tin Man, Elliot Santiago. “It’s really nice to see how it goes from a bunch of different scenes to one big production. I always love that feeling.”
For Junior Eric Macullok, known on stage as “The Wiz,” the best part of the process was when everyone really started to know their characters, what to do and how to act.
The students created back stories for their characters to help them relate better.
For Macullok that meant learning how to build up his ego and then have it broken down at the
end, something the students said could relate to high school in some ways.
Junior Yomaira Gonzalez, who plays the Wicked Witch, said her favorite scenes are those right after the ones that she’s in. “I have to put on this evil-ness,” she said. “So they’re happy when I’m gone.”
Gonzalez said that in trying to relate to her character, she learned to have a confident stride, which carried over into her everyday life.
Lizbelkis Santana, the junior who plays Dorothy, said she pulled from her own personality to play the free spirited girl. But she added that staying in character is difficult when things are funny, which happened a lot on set.
When the students were asked how often it interrupted practice time, O’Connor laughed and said, “Too many times.”
The ‘supporting’ cast
O’Connor, who teaches drama and English at the school, taught at Union Hill High School for 31 years and directed shows there as well.
“It’s the first real theater I’ve ever worked in,” said O’Connor, who directs in collaboration with Music Teacher Tania Alvarez. “It’s a little overwhelming and intimidating being in the space like that. I walked in there in September and felt like I was in Radio City Music Hall.”
In true Radio City style, dance has a much bigger role in this year’s production. That’s in part because of new full-time dance teacher Cristen Bottega.
“This year I’ve had a lot of support,” he said, adding that the Board of Education sent two carpenters to build the sets and also linked the students up with a vocal coach.
Additionally, the group was lucky to have helping hands from many others like a substitute teacher who volunteered to do the artwork, a former student who came back to give acting tips, and a current student who pitched in on costume design for the Munchkins.
The show
The high school show coincides with the 35th anniversary of the Broadway show and the 70th anniversary of the classic film “The Wizard of Oz.”
The group is hoping to play two sold out shows to their 900-seat theater. Already the response has been incredible – the Friday morning show reserved especially for young students sold out almost immediately.
Show dates are April 23 and 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the Union City High School theater. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door for $10. Discounted tickets for students are available for $5. For more information contact (201) 330-8678.
Lana Rose Diaz can be reached at ldiaz@hudsonreporter.com.