'Wizard of Oz' fills Panida's main stage with magic

SANDPOINT — When it comes to realizing all the pageantry of Oz, even Dorothy herself would be impressed by the production Sandpoint Onstage will bring to the Panida stage over the next three weekends.

With a cast of 60 actors, singers and dancers and a 22-member orchestra to back them up, this version of “The Wizard of Oz” promises to be a memorable, musical experience.

The plot line and score will be familiar to fans of the classic movie, according to director Deborah McShane.

“We’re using the script from the Royal Shakespeare Company,” she said. “It’s true to the story and all the characters, but it’s more expansive. It’s a clever, witty script.”

McShane is joined by a phalanx of directorial expertise, including Taryn Quayle, who doubles as choreographer and the featured dancer in the show-stopping production number The Jitterbug, Karen Pogorzelski conducting the orchestra and Sarah Caruso as vocal director and commander of the flying monkeys.

On one evening last week, their combined efforts filled every corner of the First Christian Church as the musicians accompanied a stage full of Munchkins singing their welcome to Dorothy and Toto, while the gym rang out with the sound of Ozians practicing their musical number. The parking lot, too, was put to use, as several soldierly men marched in time to the strains of, “Yo-ee-oh, Yo-oh!”

Casting was completed in late April, launching the production into a packed rehearsal schedule immediately afterward.

Behind the scenes, artist Peter Goetzinger has been designing and constructing sets that McShane believes will lift the show to greater heights.

“You can have good actors and great music, but if you have an uninspired set, it just doesn’t work,” she explained. “All of the pieces of the puzzle have to be there.”

Goetzinger’s artistic eye takes the viewer from a drab, Depression-era landscape to a place that explodes with color and interest — and that’s even before the cast of characters spills onto the stage.

“We start out with a late-1930s farm scene and move on to Oz,” said the director. “And, on our stage, Oz is Wonderland.”

To turn McShane’s observation on its ear for a moment, spectacular sets won’t carry the day if the acting isn’t believable and the music doesn’t inspire. On both counts, the directors for The Wizard of Oz have conspired to make this outing a hit, right down to the way characters move across the stage.

“The movement aspect, for the principals, is so crucial,” said choreographer Quayle. “Because for two hours, you’re made of straw, you’re made of tin, or you’re an animal walking through space in a very different way. It’s very fun, but it’s very advanced.”

Pogorzelski took the same, in-depth approach to pulling the orchestra together, using a combination she described as “recruiting and begging” to get the right talent and leaving no part in the score unturned.

“People told me, ‘You’re going to have to go to Coeur d’Alene and Spokane,’ but I thought it was important to keep it local,” the conductor said. “We have every instrument covered, including the harp.”

In this score, the orchestra stays busy throughout the show, she added, providing music under the dialog as an effective way to stitch the scenes together.

Caruso and Pogorzelski held their first complete run-through with the orchestra and vocalists on Saturday — the culmination of weeks of separate rehearsals.

“It’s very challenging, very difficult music, with tight harmonies, big choruses and lots of keys changes and time changes,” the vocal director noted. “I’m proud of my singers. They’ve been working really hard.”

Although several generations of kids lost sleep over the movie images of malevolent flying monkeys and — no matter that she melts in the end — probably the most terrifying witch ever, this stage version of The Wizard of Oz offers safer ground for young theatergoers.

“It’s not as scary as the film,” McShane said. “Our flying monkeys are kids and they’re more playful than the monkeys in the movie.”

Further leavening the fright factor is the fact that the Wicked Witch is presented with more comedic opportunities in the Royal Shakespeare Company Script and is played as a punchline-throwing vamp by local character actress Audra Mearns.

Sara Kirby, fresh off the stage as a main character in the recent Sandpoint Waldorf School production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” steps into the role of Dorothy. Steve Neuder will appear as the Scarecrow, with Ellis Gaddie suiting up for the Tin Man and Sam Richardson delivering a courageous performance in the role of the Cowardly Lion.

Andrew Sorg takes on dual roles as Uncle Henry and the Emerald City Guard, as does Carl Jones as Professor Marvel and the Wizard. Balancing out Mearns’ oh-so-bad character is Kate Fox, appearing as Glenda the Good Witch.

Virtually surrounding these principal actors will be a host of Munchkins, Ozians, singing trees, and fedora-wearing, Ray Ban-sporting crows who are the aviary equivalent of the Blues Brothers.

According to McShane, Sandpoint Onstage has pulled out all the stops to make this show an audience favorite. Producers Julie Berreth and Teresa Pesce recruited costumers Chris Quayle and Christine Owens, whose creations will be seen alongside borrowed costumes from the Pend Oreille Players and Coeur d’Alene High School. Makeup has been individually designed for each of the 60 characters by veteran makeup artist Aarow Bond-Ellis.

“It’s been amazing as far as the camaraderie and cooperative effort,” the director said. “Artistically, this show is very, very strong.”

Only one character has been lagging behind an otherwise solid cast, she confided. Adopted earlier this year from the animal shelter, Sundance Madison appears as Toto. Cute to a fault and friendly to boot, the little guy is still getting his bearings in a land of singing crows, talking lions and flying monkeys.

“He’s a sweet, charming dog,” McShane said. “He’s not getting all his cues, though.”

The Sandpoint Onstage production of The Wizard of Oz opens this Friday, June 28, with additional performances on Sat., June 29, and again on July 5, 6, 12 and 13. All shows begin at 8 p.m., with a matinee scheduled for Sat., July 6 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $17 adults, $14 seniors and $12 for children, available at Monarch Mountain Coffee, Eve’s Leaves and online at www.sandpointonstage.com