Lions and Tigers and Bears—Oh, My!

When the curtain goes up for the first time on Friday, March 11, audiences will be treated to a production of The Wizard of Oz, featuring students from , along with and .

90 students will grace the stage during the production, and a whopping 250 costume changes will occur during the events.

Directed by Kathleen Donovan-Warren, this year's musical also involves student directors, a student-run crew and plenty of parent volunteers to help keep things running smoothly.

Lisa Ultan and Debbie Paruolo, who chair the musical's costume committee, gave Patch a sneak peek of what to expect on the stage this year.

"A big challenge is costuming an ensemble," said Ultan. "So, for example, for the munchkins, these are all costumes that were made for past shows like Oklahoma! and Carousel."

Paruolo said she found plenty of colorful patterned tights to go along with the dresses from past productions including Hello, Dolly! to make for the perfect munchkin attire.

Ultan added this year the ensemble will be have around three costume changes apiece, versus the typical single costume, for the duration of the play.

"Everything that the kids are going to wear this year was either made by the moms or we took from something old and we gave it a new life," revealed Paruolo. "There's nothing rented."

In addition to operating with a budget and creating many of the props and costumes from scratch or reusing ones from older school plays, the parents often put their heads together to create innovative ways to make things work.

The trees, for example, can hold students inside and are by a harness and hula hoops. The actors are able to move the trees' mouths from inside as well.

While many of the elementary students will be appearing as munchkins in the production, some older students have taken on the roles as well. Therefore, Ultan explained how soccer shin guards have been used to create munchkin shoes for older students to utilize while on their knees.

Luckily, the school color is green, and so old band outfits have made easy costumes for Emerald City inhabitants.

"We kept every single possible green piece" in preparation from the play, Paruolo said, after much of the school's items went into storage to prepare for the school's renovations.

On the opposite side of the color spectrum, the committee created pieces to stay true to the film's opening black and white scene.

"Everyone will be in sepia," said Paruolo, pointing out a rack of neutral clothing.

Even Dorothy's signature blue and white gingham dress will be changed for the scene.

While Paruolo and Ultan agreed its important for the musical to stay true to the original movie in some ways, they also wanted to create something innovative. The evil monkeys in the film for example, have been given a modern flair.

"We changed them to evil skater boy monkeys," said Paruolo.

There will be plenty more surprises to come once the musical hits the stage.

Visit phsplay.org to purchase tickets to any The Wizard of Oz's of the five shows.