Hempstead Hall Friday night was the scene of an attempted dog-theft, a giant tornado, a flying monkey attack, a munchkin-land celebration, a naptime in a poppy garden and a big green giant head barking orders. All this and more took place on stage during Garrett Memorial Christian School’s annual musical, a lavish production of The Wizard of Oz.
The evening began with producer and arts teacher Donna Clark thanking all who helped make the performance possible. Next, GMCS Administrator Christy Zumwalt provided a five-minute sermon/disclaimer to make clear the show was no endorsement of seeking answers outside a Christian worldview.
Then the show unfolded, with well-constructed, artistically-rendered sets, colorful near-perfect costumes, engaging choreography and captivating singing and acting. The part of Dorothy Gale takes a multi-talented performer who can sing, act, dance and essentially carry the momentum of one of the most familiar quest narratives to its life-affirming conclusion.
To say Donna Clark found her Dorothy in Charlotte Daniels is an understatement. You realized this pretty quickly when Daniels takes on “Over the Rainbow,” making that challenging tune, one identified with the otherworldly talent of Judy Garland, absolutely her own with a winning sincerity and seeming ease of hitting those notes.
Another standout was Miley Loe as the Wicked Witch of the West who found an especially cutting and sarcastic voice for her character and exuded a bratty menace in all her scenes. Madison Faulkner was also charming and gregarious as the Cowardly Lion, while Natalee Chunn made a patient, serene Auntie M and Glinda the Good Witch.
After the show, Charlotte Daniels said she was quite nervous before “Over the Rainbow,” but there was no sign of this as she sang, nor as she continued her performance. She also talked about the secret of acting as Dorothy and what it was like being in the production. “It was very challenging because she's sort of calm and very chill. And it was very fun experience because I am home schooled, never get out of the house, and I got to go every day for multiple hours to practice!”
It was yet another extravagant and well-turned show directed by Donna Clark. She also credited a choreographer Wendy Martin for wrangling all those elementary kids into place during the large group sequences and creating hypnotic dance episodes for small troupes throughout the musical.
The only pity is that the show was one-night only and for the next GMCS production, we have to wait until next year.
All the below photos are by Jennifer Foster.
All photos below are by Jeff Smithpeters
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