'The Wizard of Oz' at Naugatuck High School - My Review

Before the Western School Drama Club merged with their Naugatuck High School counterpart, The Wizard of Oz had been chosen as their musical. As it turned out, the choice could not have been a better one. The show includes plenty of lead roles that could be assigned to the more experienced teens and "the littles" could handle the ensemble. It worked beautifully, as I knew it would.

It was bittersweet for me to watch opening night (for which I had complimentary tickets,) but not because I wasn't thrilled to see all the hard work that these Naugatuck students had put into pulling off the show. I couldn't help but remember that The Wizard of Oz was supposed to be the show that followed our successful production of School House Rock Live, Jr. at Maple Hill School. How much I wanted to audition for the role of the Wicked Witch! Our director Dave Gardino had envisioned the show in many of the same ways that Western School third grade teacher Stephanie Colella staged this production. The now teenaged Preston Bogan, the president of the NHS Drama Club who played the Scarecrow in this show, had even been one of my costars in SHR all those years ago. It was great to see how much he has grown as a performer since he attended Maple Hill and in the end, I was happy that students in Naugatuck got to bring this classic show to life.

Ms. Colella describes in her notes that one of the themes in this show is that there is value in a journey. She likens this to the journey that they have taken as a cast while melding the two drama clubs. This production represents a larger show for the high school group and a larger stage for the elementary school group, but this cast rose to the demands of both. The subtle modernized elements that were added to this production did not go unnoticed.

The show opened with a well-done improvisational preshow featuring cast members Preston Bogan and Michael Newman as newscasters predicting the upcoming tornado while simultaneously reminding the audience about fire exits and the like. It was very funny.

As soon as NHS senior Alexandra Hernandez took to the stage in the familiar blue checked dress as Dorothy and sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," the tone was set. This young lady is such a talented singer and actress and I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role. Ms. Hernandez will be heading to Berklee College of Music after graduation. The multi-talented NHS junior Kaylin Spaulding covered the roles of Auntie Em and Glinda, and did a fine job with both. Jacob Toomey played the small role of Uncle Henry with his arm in a cast, God bless him.

I knew that Mr. Bogan, now a NHS senior, would be a wonderful Scarecrow and Hank and he did not disappoint the opening night audience. Whether singing, dancing, losing his stuffing or trying not to light himself on fire, he is a joy to watch.  NHS junior Michael Newman (13 The Musical at Seven Angels) suffered through the worst silver make-up to play the Tinman and added many fine comic touches. Young Manuel Silva (Cogsworth in Western's Beauty and the Beast) returned to the stage to play an excellent Lion/Zeke. This fourth grader fit perfectly among his elder counterparts; we couldn't help but smile whenever he was on the stage and he nailed his "If I Were King of the Forest."

NHS junior Danielle D'Oliveira was appropriately scary as Miss Gulch and the witch with the green face. I loved her black outfit and green light up broom. NHS Senior Bailey Anderson was especially strong in the roles of the professor and the wizard; she also helped out with the artistic elements of the production.

Among the Western students, fourth grader Saige Winslow (Chip in Beauty and the Beast) played the Coroner, Emily Lungarini played Nikko, Skylar DeFazio played the Ozian Guard and NHS freshman Kathleen Dowling played the Winkie Leader. All sported great costumes and did a great job. Needless to say, the Lullaby League, the Lollipop Guild, the crows, the angry trees, the Flying Monkeys, the Winkies and the members of the ensemble were adorable.

Ms. Colella pulled this off with aplomb and made great use of the space. Music teacher Catherine Tullo Lungarini assisted and shared the musical director duties as only she can. Ginny Doxsey of Naugatuck returned to provide the perfect amount of choreography, especially for the added "Jitterbug" number that closed the first act. Colette Dumont was in charge of all the colorful costumes; I thought the Munchkin's were perfect. The sets were lit as well as possible by the behind the scenes crew and the sound was quite good.

The show runs less than two hours with an intermission where inexpensive concessions are available. The students have worked very hard within the weather-related limitations of their rehearsal schedule and it shows. Oz is the perfect show for young audiences and the tickets are an affordable $7. The Davis Auditorium lobby is decorated nicely for this production. Go and enjoy the talents of our Naugatuck students as they follow the yellow brick road to the land of Oz on Saturday at 3:30 and 7:00pm.