Building the Yellow Brick Road: The Wizard of Oz at THS, Spring 2022
On the evening of April 8th, anticipation was building in the Borkowski family auditorium as the spring Drama Club production, The Wizard of Oz, was about to begin. For the first time in over ten years, the Terryville High School drama club was about to show us, there really is no place like home. Raucous applause was sure to be heard throughout the entire building at the end of each performance, as this play quickly became known as one of, if not the best, productions the THS Drama Club has ever accomplished. With members from THS and the Plymouth community (including some adorable young munchkins from the elementary schools) the show had an incredibly talented and dedicated cast. While practice was long and challenging, the show was a great success. From the behind-the-scenes crew members building the sets to adjusting the lighting and sound, the Drama Club kept the show running smoothly. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of the Drama Club advisors, Mrs. McWilliams and Mr. Perkins, and two former alumni who came back to direct, Jonathan Zalaski and Kayla Mastraccio.
In response to the heaps of praise for The Wizard of Oz, Mrs. McWilliams was ecstatic, remarking that, “Even a month later, and people in the community are still talking about it!” Mr. Perkins, too, was proud of the production, “I think it’s amazing; I’m beyond happy with the students and the alumni who came and helped and Mrs. McWilliams. It’s been 10 years since we first did The Wizard of Oz and I was so excited by how many alumni and original cast members came through to support!” Hailey (Olli) Stamm, the star of the play as Dorothy, agreed with the positive feedback, saying, “It’s nice to finally have people recognize the drama club for how great it is.” Having attended a performance of the play myself, I can completely agree that all the compliments are well deserved – it was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen!
In order to put on such a good show, rehearsals were imperative. According to Mrs. McWilliams, “Sometimes they were long, but everything was well executed, which made every minute worth it. And this year, having John Zalaski directing helped to keep everything well organized and timed out. His support was amazing.” Due to the long hours of practice and preparation, everything came together beautifully in the end. “As exhausted as everybody seemed to be, it was such a thrill to be put on the show, from opening night all the way striking the stage in the end,” said McWilliams.
The Wizard of Oz was especially meaningful to Hailey Stamm. She’s been in theater since eighth grade, and as a senior at THS, this was her final show with the Drama Club. As Dorothy, Ollie donneda southern accent, skipped around the stage with her friends the Scarecrow (played by Julio Sanchez), the Tin Man (played by Tyler Violette), the Cowardly Lion (played by Taryn McWilliams), and Toto. On their adventures, they managed to sing a few songs, have a few laughs, and melt the Wicked Witch of the West (played by Kyah Schwarz) aided by Glinda the Good Witch (Azayda Lynt), all in order to face the great and powerful Wizard of Oz (played by Michael Rinaldi).
Hailey Stamm deserves all the mountains of praise she received. Describing her experience, Stamm said, “It was definitely life-altering. For the first time in my life, I had people come up to me and be like ‘keep doing this.’ Theater isn’t something people normally urge you to pursue so it was like ‘woah!’” Her best friend on set (and my personal favorite actor from the show) was Toto, who was played by a real dog! According to Stamm, working with Toto was “the best part of it. I came to the realization at the end of the show that it wasn’t my dog and I couldn’t take it home and I was really upset.”
This production of the Wizard of Oz was also special for Mr. Perkins, due to it being the 10th anniversary of the original production of the Wizard of Oz at THS. “It’s been 10 years so it’s nice to do something on the anniversary. The club had a strong enough base that we could pull it off, and we did!” said Perkins. Also, this is potentially Mr. Perkins’ last show as an advisor for the Drama Club, so he “wanted to do something that would resonate, that would energize the current students and alumni to keep the group strong. Our goal is to leave the club better than we found it.”
With plans starting to be made for next fall’s Drama Club production, the success of the Wizard of Oz is sure to continue on with new and remaining club members. Be sure to check out their next adventure coming Fall of 2022!
