The Wizard of Oz reaches out to the community
Broadway comes to town and takes the community by storm
Stephanie Baker
Issue date: 3/16/10 Section: Features
|
The entire performance was excellent, the community outreach program even more so.
The play featured a group of local children performers, and the assistant dance captain taught Florida State College at Jacksonville dance students a routine from the musical.
The annual Family Night on Broadway was hosted by the Artist Series on opening night, February 23. It featured eleven kid friendly games such as follow the yellow brick road hopscotch, over the rainbow face painting and pin the heart on the Tin Man.
Each city that The Wizard of Oz travels to holds auditions for the roles of the munchkins. There must be twelve child participants. They must be under five feet, weigh less than one hundred pounds and must all be with one company or dance group.
Jacksonville auditions were held on January 23 at the Wilson Center for the performing Arts on the South Campus. The decision was made immediately after the auditions.
The roles of the munchkins in the Jacksonville performances were played by the students of Studio 1014 Dance. Their performance during the play was adorable. The crowd must have been filled with proud, loving parents because the round of applause was so loud when they left the stage.
During the time that The Wizard of Oz was on tour in Jacksonville Assistant Dance Captain, Ian Campayno, came to FSCJ to teach some of the dance students the "Jitterbug" number from the play.
The FSCJ students had fun dancing with a professional from Broadway. After the lesson was over the students took advantage of the time they had to ask Campayno questions about the profession and about the New York life style.
According to Rosemary Fletcher, professor of dance at South Campus, this is a great opportunity for the students to work with a professional.
Fletcher said that the dance program at the college has grown and that she is very happy to have a new classroom or studio with a state of the art floor, great sound system and windows.
The entire community benefited from The Wizard of Oz coming to town. Not only did they provide great entertainment, but they also reached out to provide education to the local community.
Be the first to comment on this story