The air was electric following the last of six performances of the The Wizard of Oz at the Cultural Arts Theatre in Westlock last Saturday night.
The energy level of the cast and crew was high following the performance — the kind of high that can only really come from seeing so much hard work pay off in a theatrical production.
“It really was worth all the hard work — and it was hard work to pull this off in two and a half months,” musical director Anne-Marie Switzer said. “It went really well.”
Along with the short timeline to get the show ready, Switzer and director Susan Bowsfield had the extra challenge of a relatively young and inexperienced cast and crew — but that actually turned out to be a blessing.
“Their inexperience was actually kind of nice sometimes, because it’s like a blank canvas; they tried what we asked them to and it was definitely a pleasure,” Switzer said. “We had high expectations of them, and they managed to step up and meet them.”
With a relatively young cast now veterans of a Dream Merchant Theatre production, the future of the performing arts at R.F. Staples is looking good.
“We’ll snowball here, and hopefully build a really strong program for the future,” she said.
Switzer said it will likely be two years before the next musical production at R.F. Staples, but in the meantime Bowsfield will take students to the annual drama festival to perform one-act plays. The two directors are also busy trying to figure out what the next show will be, but Switzer was playing her cards close to her chest.
“We’ve talked a bit, but can’t seem to think of one that’s going to sell out six nights during the show, so we’re not completely settled yet,” she said. “That’s all I can say.”
