The Wizard Of Oz

So last night I arrived to Walla Walla and waited for my warm showers hosts to get back from their sons baseball game. They arrived back and we talked for a bit as supper was being made and then I was offered the chance to go to the high school play of The Wizard Of Oz. It was supposed to be really good and a production company from Las Vegas had apparently helped them make flying monkeys. The school is around 1,800 students in a town of around 30,000 people. I decided I would go.

We got there right as the house lights were turned down and the show soon began. Dorothy came on stage followed by Toto, of which they actually used a live dog when able. Sometimes he was getting held too much or thrown around and they used a stuff dog that highly resembled him. They did very good at switching him back and forth during the scenes so one could hardly keep track of the real dog or the stuffed one.

Pretty soon the tornado hit and the next thing you know a model house is flying around on stage and a projector is showing twisters and flying debris in the background. Then the house lands on the witch and the next thing you know Glinda is flying in her bubble from stage left and slowly soars down to the ground. Then here comes the wicked witch flying on her broomstick above the stage from stage right and she soars to the ground, makes her speech, then flies away.

Later on three monkeys fly in and then one carries of Toto, the tin man is in the air, and Dorothy gets flown away.

It was quite the production. The wardrobe was very well done and the acting was really good. They have quite a lot of talent in the vocals area. For a high school production it was amazing. The use of technology was minimal but well used with a projector instead of changing backdrops. It also allowed the crystal ball scenes to be played out with their actors in dream sequences. The only drawback was they used a mic system and it was a bit loud. I was quite impressed.

I am taking a free day today to rest and make any repairs necessary before making a push to Missoula, MT for another rest day. In less than a month I will be back in Nebraska, though only for a handful of days. Then it's only three more months of this journey. I feel it's going to go too fast and not fast enough all at the same time.