MORRILTON — Theater patrons are invited to travel the Yellow Brick Road with Dorothy and friends as the Rialto Community Arts Center presents its spring musical, The Wizard of Oz. The show will open Thursday and continue through April 26.
Showtimes are at 7 p.m. Thursday and Saturday and again May 23-25, and at 2 p.m. May 19 and 26.
Tickets, at $10 for adults and $5 for students, may be purchased at rialtomorrilton.com.
Brad Parks of Morrilton directs the local production of The Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, background music by Herbert Stothart, dance and vocal arrangements by Peter Howard, orchestration by Larry Wilcox and adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Co. The play is based on the classic motion picture owned by Turner Entertainment Co. and distributed in all media by Warner Bros. The production is presented by arrangement with Tams-Whitmark.
“This is the classic story that everyone’s familiar with, based on the movie starring Judy Garland
as Dorothy,” said Parks, a 2005 graduate of Morrilton High School who now teaches English at his alma mater. “It’s a huge cast. … It’s a big show, complete with dancing and singing. We built an extension to the stage to accommodate it.
“This is not the easiest play to direct, nor the easiest place in which to present it,” he said, laughing. “But I love working with limited resources and making things happen from nothing.
“I understand Miss D (the late Dianna Denton, former theater teacher at Morrilton High School) once said The Wizard of Oz could never be produced here. I said, ‘Why not? Let’s try it.’ I am committed to it, and it will be presented live, right here in Morrilton.”
Parks, a 2012 graduate of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, also taught theater for two years at Morrilton High School and one year at Bauxite High School. He is working on a master’s degree in English at UCA. He is also the Quiz Bowl coach, the newspaper sponsor and a coach for the Morrilton High School eSports Club.
Parks’ wife, Shawna Parks, who works as a library assistant at Morrilton High School, will provide a unique element to the show — an aerial dance with silks during the tornado scene.
Brad Parks has double-cast the role of the show’s heroine, Dorothy Gale, who is swept up in a tornado with her dog, Toto, and taken to the magical land of Oz, where she meets the Scarecrow, the Tinman and the Cowardly Lion.
“I really don’t like the word ‘understudy,’” Parks said. “And I don’t like asking an actor to learn his or her part and never get to perform onstage. So I have double-cast the role of Dorothy. She is the heart of the show; if something happened to that actor, we would have to cancel the show.
“I have cast Carolyn Hopkins and Anna Beth Jean in the role of Dorothy,” he said. “Both are doing a great job. Carolyn will graduate from Morrilton High School on Friday, which is why we are not performing that night. And Anna Beth is a sophomore at Greenbrier High School.”
Other cast members include the following:
• Colton Moll as Toto.
• Rita Carson as Auntie Em.
• Charles Lovelace as Uncle Henry.
• Keair Lee as Hunk/Scarecrow.
• Hunter Garrett as Hickory/Tinman.
• Jackson Flowers as Zeke/Cowardly Lion.
• Jasmin Lyon as Miss Almira Gulch/Wicked Witch of the West.
• David Garrett as Professor Marvel/Wizard of Oz.
• Mallory Simer as Glinda the Good Witch of the North.
• Romello Nicholson
as the Emerald City guard.
• Aria Parks, Kaida Thomas and Kendall Brown as members of the Munchkin ensemble.
• Lucy Strahin as the Munchkin mayor.
• Kai Urie as the Munchkin coroner.
• Lily Trauth as the Munchkin braggart.
• William Ricker as the Munchkin barrister.
• Brooklyn Moll as the Munchkin schoolteacher.
• Johnny Bertram as the Munchkin city father.
• Aliza Ahouse, Emberlee Lyon and Bailey Urie as members of the Munchkin Lullaby League.
• Kingston Black, Eddie Moll, Jordan Moll and Wesley Watts as members of the Munchkin Lollipop Guild.
• Wendy Bertram, Kenzie Harris, Haven Hill and Laney Wingo as crows.
• Anna Purtle, Mia Krisell and Kaylan Swain as trees.
• River Ashlock, Violet Deluca, Brooklynn Moll, Aria Parks, Jasmine Sims, Jessica Sims and Molly Strahin as poppies.
• Claire Koontz as the leader of the Jitterbugs.
• Wendy Bertram, Sarah DuVall, Ainsley Herrick, Kenzie Harris, Haven Hill, Mia Krisell, Kaylan Swain and Laney Wingo as members of the Jitterbug Ensemble.
• Lucy Strahin as Nikko, commander of the monkeys.
• River Ashlock, Kingston Black, Violet Deluca, Jordan Moll, Aria Parks and Molly Strahin as members
of the Monkey Ensemble.
• Kendall Brown, William Ricker, Lily Trauth and Aliza Ahouse as members of the Ozian Ensemble.
• Claire Koontz as the Ozian tap soloist.
• Emily Cambiano, Patricia Hopkins and Marie Roberts as Ozian manicurists.
• Anna Purtle, Mia Krisell and Kaylan Swain as Ozian polishers.
• Sarah DuVall and Cyndi Foster as Ozian beauticians.
• Ainsley Herrick as the featured Ozian soloist.
• Kai Urie and Wesley Watts as Ozian men.
• Gracie Moll and Bailey Urie as Ozian women.
• Cole Chism as the Winkie general.
• Emily Johnson, Eddie Moll, Jessica Sims and Jasmine Sims as members of the Winkie ensemble.
• Emily Cambiano, Sarah DuVall, Ainsley Herrick, Patricia Hopkins, Emily Johnson, Gracie Moll, Anna Purtle and Marie Roberts as members of the women’s chorus.
Members of the production crew are all graduates of Morrilton High School, except Grace Hendrix, who is a sophomore, and have contributed to plays directed by Parks. The crew includes Averee Jolly, assistant director; Grace Hendrix, stage manager; Kyle Chassells, production manager; Arjun Saatia, set designer; Zacchaeus Jolly, scenic designer; Phoenix McGinty, technical director; Hannah McGehee and Lorie West, co-costume designers; and Cole Chism, dramaturgist.