Hello Yellow Brick Road: Saguaro City Music Theatre brings ‘The Wizard of Oz’ to Tucson

The 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz,” based on the 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, has been beloved for generations. It is enjoying renewed interest, thanks to the recent release…and box-office sizzle…of the film “Wicked.” The musical version, which has music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, highlights the same memorable characters, including the Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda, Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion.
Saguaro City Music Theatre will present “The Wizard of Oz” from Friday, Dec. 20, to Sunday, Jan. 5.
Saguaro City is a professional theater company that offers performance opportunities for people of different ages and abilities. Its educational branch is called Saguaro City Studio Arts, through which the theater holds classes and camps for youth.
“The Wizard of Oz” tells the story of Dorothy Gale, a girl from Kansas who finds herself in the magical land of Oz after a tornado hits her house. She is trying to find a way home while facing an adversary in the Wicked Witch of the West. Following the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, she meets three traveling companions, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow.
The show stars Olive Garcia Telles as Dorothy, John Henderson as Hunk/the Scarecrow, Wesley Geary as Hickory/the Tin Man, Rafael J. Acuña as Zeke/the Cowardly Lion, Missy Paschke-Wood as Gulch/the Wicked Witch and Kate Scally as Glinda. The cast ranges in age from 5-year-olds to adults in their 40s. Child actors will portray characters such as munchkins, poppies, jitterbugs and monkeys. Teens will help to create the tornado effect and portray poppies and Winkes, a group that serves the Wicked Witch. The production will also feature music from a six-piece band, and a dog named Sadie, playing the role of Toto. According to Dena DiGiacinto, Saguaro City’s managing director/director of education, the Cockapoo worked with a dog trainer on tricks to prepare for the show.
She also said that a number of young people in the show are doing theater for the first time.
“Being a part of a show like this can really change a child’s life,” DiGiacinto said. “It’s exciting to get to be that first stage of them becoming a lover of theater, a lifelong passion that many of us end up holding onto. It’s very rare that a kid signs up for something like this and then never does it again. It’s usually something that sticks with you.”
This is one of the largest casts that Saguaro City has ever had, with around 50 people, including 30 youth. DiGiacinto said that having such a large cast provides unique opportunities for staging. “It’s really exciting to fill a stage with that many actors. It’s very powerful, and not something we get a chance to see all that often because it’s really tricky to have a company that large for so many reasons…I’m personally excited for some of the numbers in the show that are going to have almost everybody, the large majority of the cast involved, like for example the poppies scene. The Wicked Witch does the spell where the poppies put them to sleep, and also the ‘Jitterbug’ song. When they’re walking through the forest, there’s another spell the Wicked Witch tries to pull where the jitterbugs make them dance so much that they drop and become exhausted.”
DiGiacinto said many of the young actors only knew “Wicked,” and they are just now learning the story of “The Wizard of Oz.”
“There are a lot of kids who have never seen the full original movie before, so this is their introduction to ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ which is such a wonderful honor and privilege to be that for them. It’s such a timeless story that just means so much to so many of us. Our hope is that they’ll fall in love with it just like we have,” DiGiacinto said.
By contrast, many of the adults in the cast have memories attached to “The Wizard of Oz,” and the show is nostalgic for them. DiGiacinto expects that audiences will have a similar connection and will introduce the story to young people in their lives. She said that the show resonates with many audiences because of its theme of the importance of home and time with family and friends.
Rafael J. Acuña, who plays the Cowardly Lion, grew up watching the film “Wizard of Oz” with his older sisters. “It was always a weekend thing that we would watch a movie, and that was one of her favorites that would be on repeat. So, I identify with it very strongly because of that.”
A graduate of Mountain View High School in Marana, Acuña is appearing in his first Saguaro City show. He said he decided to audition because he had always wanted to play the character.
“The Cowardly Lion is probably one of my top five characters, just because I really enjoy being bombastic, comedic characters,” he explained. “I jumped on it immediately because I really wanted to get a chance to be part of a production of Saguaro City because I’d heard really good things about them, but also to get to potentially portray this character because it means a lot to me from a nostalgic sense, something I grew up with, but also just out of sheer showmanship.”
Acuña said that in playing the iconic character, he is trying to pay homage to previous versions, including that by film actor Bert Lahr, while also making the Cowardly Lion personal to him. He said the vocals and physicality are central to portraying the character. “I’m a big fan of always making a big character different from what is usually seen or expected… It’s been really difficult for this one in particular. I really want to do that voice, and I really want to do those Bert Lahr mannerisms…. I’m trying to find balance between something that will be recognizable but also my own iteration.”
Acuña added that the character fits him because he enjoys physical roles where he gets to be larger-than-life. The actor has worked with Stories that Soar!, a program through Literacy Connects. The nonprofit promotes storytelling and story creation among elementary school students.
Acuña started doing theater around age 17. His past productions include “RApunzel: A Hip-Hop Musical,” “In the Heights,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “Rent,” “Bright Star” and “Rock of Ages.” He also has some experience with stage management and costume design.
But he said the Cowardly Lion is a challenge because of the prosthetics and makeup required.
DiGiacinto said that costuming, wigs and makeup help to make the characters recognizable and distinctive. The behind-the-scenes staff are working closely to develop the looks, especially for characters such as the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Wicked Witch of the West. In certain scenes, the actors have to change quickly into these characters.
The show is also heavy on special effects, many of which are created through lighting and props. These help to bring to life moments such as fire jumping from the Wicked Witch’s broomstick onto the Scarecrow. Due to venue limitations, the Wicked Witch won’t fly on wires, but the company is finding creative ways to convey that she has the ability to fly.
“This is one of the things that our design team is working on, trying to figure out how we’re going to create the illusion of the Wicked Witch flying and have the audience understand that this is a Wicked Witch that flies on a broomstick without technically being able to fly her across the stage,” DiGiacinto said. “We have been doing some research on how other productions have solved this problem and talking to some colleagues about some creative solutions. That’s the fun part about being on the team of expert people who understand how you can play around with lighting, fog and sound effects to create these illusions in theater.”