Saratoga News

Education

Photograph by Mark Tantrum

The Redwood Middle School spring musical is 'The Wiz,' featuring (from left) Hannah Harter as Dorothy, Rex Sakamoto as the Lion, Jae Lee as the Tin Man and Mikaela Burton as the Scarecrow. The musical, which has been staged to take place during the 1970s, will run April 26-29.

'The Wiz' goes a little disco, a little punk

By Michele Tjin

The hippie age, the disco era and the punk years are grooving back to life.
Redwood Middle School students are reviving the 1970s in their musical production of The Wiz, based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The students are giving the story a retro feel to reflect the original 1975 Broadway production. The Lion wears a muscle top and an Afro wig, and the Wiz, wearing silver platform shoes, will be played as an embodiment of Elvis Presley and Elton John. The Wicked Witch of the West has been refashioned as Evilene, a punk lady outfitted with a black leather shirt and a halter top held together with safety pins.

"I wear things I would never dream of wearing," said Amber Arroyo, 13, one of two students who play Evilene. "My mom said that if my grandmother saw me, she'd faint."

Amber is one of 120 Redwood students who will be in the limelight April 26-29. Interest in musical theater at Redwood has grown over the years to where directors now work with more than one cast of students. The Wiz this year has two casts.

"I meet a lot of people," said Brandon Pierce, 14, one of the students playing the Wiz. "Every year, I see a lot of the same people, but I also meet new sixth-graders, and I'm friends with them."

Many of the Redwood parents say they are grateful for the school's interest in musical theater providing a nonthreatening environment for children to try something new. Kathryn Mandell was watching her son David dance and sing during rehearsal recently. David, an eighth-grader, isn't a dancer, but he was tapping his feet like a pro. If students have never moved to the beat of music on a stage, there are trained veterans who show them how to do it.

"Everyone has a chance to do something," Mandell said.

Margie Alejandro, the district's elementary school music teacher, was the longtime director of the musicals at Redwood, but she has retired from that role this year. In her place is Maegan McNerney, a professional actor who is also the education director at California Theatre Center. Another professional lending her talents is choreographer Katie O'Bryon, who is the education director at Peninsula Youth Theatre.

Eighth-grader Hannah Harter, playing the role of Dorothy, said she appreciates the professional feel of the production.

"The choreography is elaborate and detailed," Hannah, 14, said. "There are amazing dances."

McNerney said she's been impressed with the casts she's been working with since January. During a recent rehearsal, Dorothy and her three friends lackadaisically made their way across the stage to see the Wiz. No, no, no, McNerney said.

"You need more energy," she called out, skipping and waving her arms vigorously on stage to demonstrate a more fitting entrance.

McNerney intentionally treats the students like professionals and has high expectations, she said.

"I want to give them an atmosphere of a theater company," she said. "[Professionalism] has to do with the dedication you put in, and that comes out in the work."

The hippie, disco and punk eras may seem like ancient history to her charges, but McNerney has instructed them to study the iconic moves of figures such as John Travolta to get a better sense of what the decade of big hair and tall shoes was like.

"We're having a good time," McNerney said. "You'll see bright colors, hippies and roller girls."

'The Wiz' will play at the McAfee Center at Saratoga High School, 20300 Herriman Ave., on April 26-29. The show times are 6:30 p.m. on April 26 and 27, 2 and 7 p.m. on April 28, and 1 and 6 p.m. on April 29. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. For the April 26 show only, there is a group rate of $8 a ticket; five or more tickets must be purchased for the group rate. E-mail thewiztix@comcast.net or call 408.741.5032.