by Coletta Witherspoon
Special To West Hawaii Today

Friday, July 28, 2006 9:33 AM HST

It's a land of roads paved with yellow bricks. It's a place where red sequined shoes are a sought-after commodity. It's a world filled with imaginative characters who can bring a smile to your face with a song and a dance. It's where witches who steal cute little dogs from innocent children hide in mountain castles. It's a magical spot found in the depths of your imagination, a place where dreams really do come true.

It was the opening night of the Waimea Community Theatre's production of "The Wizard of Oz."

For the WCT, it was the musical event of the year.

"We try to do one big family musical every year where everyone can come and the keikis can be involved," said producer Beverly Rutherford Storment. "Because, when the keikis get involved, the whole family gets involved. In this show we have three or four people from a couple of families."

In this production, about half the cast are children, who play the parts of the Munchkins and the flying monkeys.

"The Wizard of Oz" is a much different musical production from those the theatre group has done in the past. This is the first musical performance in which the group used a small orchestra. In the past, there have only been one or two musical accompaniments to a production. For 'Oz', there are six musicians under the musical direction of Madeline Schatz. What makes this production so different is that there is a lot of music being played under the dialog.

"So it's not just playing a song, waiting for the dialog and playing the song. The music actually underlies the dialog," said Schatz.

The group brought in pianist Ravonna Martin from Arkansas because the musical score contains some very difficult piano parts. Shaun James plays bass, Linda Hoover plays trumpet, Jesse Bennett plays cello and Pat Perez, who had never played before an audience, plays percussion.

"They are all professionals," said Storment.

Also for this production, the theatre group acquired a screen onto which film images were projected during the play. For opening night, only scenes from the movie version of were used.

"Jim Zampathas is photographing our own people and will be putting them in those scenes by next week," said Storment. 

"It's a new project and technically very challenging."

The projection of a film onto a screen (which is part of the stage curtain) and also onto the back wall behind the stage in theory sounds like it might make a good special effect, but during opening night it was difficult to see the images against the screen. The scene with the Wicked Witch of the West riding her broom was recognizable but the image was faded. Other projected scenes were not discernible.

"It's a long show, very involved," said Storment.

The play lasts about 2 hours and 20 minutes. But, under the direction of Andy Kunellis, time flies as you ride the storm from Kansas to Munchkin Land, follow the yellow brick road to Oz, and click your heels before your return trip to Kansas.

One of the more endearing parts is that of Toto, played by Moo. Moo is well trained for the part. He knows when to follow a lead and how to take a cue. His arch-enemy, Miss Gulch, brings a bark out of Moo every time she enters the stage.

The award for the best song-and-dance routine goes to Gram Leonard, who plays Scarecrow. Leonard shows great skill and dexterity as he sings of his desire for a brain.

Maren Oom, who has been involved in many of the theatre group's past musical productions, plays Dorothy. Oom has one of the best female voices in the cast. Chris Kawakami, as Tin Man, was asked to be a part of the production because "he has the best tenor voice," said Storment.

Dylan Brennan spent weeks practicing his feline antics for the part of the Cowardly Lion, and the effort paid off marvelously. The parts of the Munchkins and flying monkeys are played mostly by school-age actors and actresses. As a newcomer to the island, Janie Edmondson shows her greener side as the Wicked Witch of the West.

It's a very well designed set, and the costumes look like they were created in Hollywood.

"Jane did a great job on the costumes," said Anna Micco, who plays several parts in the play including that of a singing apple tree. David Gomes deserves a round of applause for designing yet another imaginative stage setting.

As the audience exited the theater, many audience members agreed that the production was a great success. As one audience member commented, "It's fun. It's a lot of fun."