February 7, 2017
Three students from St Mary’s Catholic College will be singing and dancing their way along the yellow brick road after landing parts in an upcoming production of “The Wizard Of Oz”.
The classic musical is being staged – with some twists – by Gateway Theatre Productions on the Sunshine Coast from April 8-11 this year.
Carissa Dascombe (Year 7), Shoney Walker (Year 9), and Annabelle Dennien (Year 11) are all students of the RBS Dance Academy at Murgon.
For the audition, they had to learn a dance routine which they then performed in front of the show’s producer and director.
Competition was fierce … more than 150 children tried out for the roles of munchkins alone.
Carissa, who is now an official “munchkin”, said this number was eventually narrowed down to 50 dancers who will perform in two groups across the four nights of the show (two nights each).
Shonay will be part of the ensemble cast as well as a flying monkey, a poppy and an Ozian (an inhabitant of Oz).
Annabelle also will be multi-tasking as part of the ensemble, a jitterbug, a snowman and an Ozian.
The multiple roles mean the girls will be doing some quick costume and make-up changes between scenes.
This is the first time any of the girls have been in a stage production such as The Wizard of Oz, but they were looking forward to it.
From now on, though, there will be lots of work … the girls will have practice sessions on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays, as well as a few Mondays and Thursdays, before the curtains rise.
