Well, folks, this is it! After a wildly successful run and a week-long extension, the world premiere production of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz at Adventure Theatre-MTC is coming to a close this weekend. It's been such a remarkable and rewarding experience, and I found myself falling in love with the magic, joy, and wonder of the theatre again. I'm so deeply appreciative to Michael Bobbitt, Roberta Gasbarre, Otis Ramsey-Zoe, the cast, design, and production team, and everyone at Adventure Theatre-MTC. We had so much fun telling this powerful, timeless, and adventurous story of love, friendship, and family. I'm also forever thankful to my dear friends, family, and colleagues who came out in support of the show. 

Over the next few days, I'm going to share cast interviews and hope you'll join me the countdown to the final curtain! In the meantime, please enjoy this post, which includes the promotional video, press, a playwright's feature interview, and production photos. Of course, you can still buy tickets to the remaining shows and I hope you do! 

Christopher Henley: Is there something timelessly relevant about this story, or is it just a fun fable with which we all are familiar and fond?
Jacqueline Lawton: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz remains so timely and relevant because it is a big adventure story about being loved, loving your family, and appreciating what you have, even if it’s not as much as what someone else has. Of course, it’s also about learning how to be a good friend. What I added to the story is that Dorothy learns that she has a role in her family and she can contribute even in a small way to the running of the farm. She learns how to be a good young person; and that doesn’t just mean doing what you’re told, it means doing what you believe in as well. Dorothy also learns how to believe in herself and to support others. These are big, valuable lessons here and it’s so much fun!  

Click here to read the rest of the interview!

I'm heading to DC for opening weekend of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz at Adventure Theatre-MTC. From the beginning, it's been such a rich and rewarding experience. As excited as I am to open, I kind of don't want it to end. I honestly don't think I've ever had so much fun. For those in the area, here's more info on the show:

"The concept of rewriting a classic like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz seemed so daunting until I really looked at the character of Dorothy, who is just like I was at that age," says playwright Jacqueline Lawton, award recipient of TCG's Young Leaders of Color and named one of the top 30 national leading black playwrights by Arena Stage's American Voices New Play Institute. "Raised on a farm with chores where nothing seemed to happen and dreaming of stories that eventually would become my career."

"Every time I come back to ATMTC, I feel like we try to create magic, and Oz is at its core, magical," says director Roberta Gasbarre who directed both Helen Hayes Nominated productions of The Red Balloon and Goodnight Moon for Adventure Theatre MTC. "I cannot wait to take this journey with the audience, and they should be prepared for an amazing ride."

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ
April 3 – May 25, 2015
Based on the novel by L. Frank Baum
Adapted by Jacqueline E. Lawton
Directed by Roberta Gasbarre
Starring Henian Boone, Ryan Dalusung, Maggie Erwin, Pasquale Guiducci, Thony Mena, Sarah Olmsted-Thomas, Alex Vernon, and Paige Hernandez as Dorothy Gale
Recommended for All Ages
Running Time: 1 hour with no intermission
Click here to purchase tickets.

Life in Kansas has been a bit boring for Dorothy and her little dog Toto. Until one day, a cyclone swoops in and takes them “over the rainbow” to the wonderful and magical land of Oz. With the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy sets off on the adventure of a lifetime down the yellow brick road to the Emerald City. These new friends brave witches, flying monkeys, and a Haunted Forest all to meet the Wizard of Oz, who promises to make their dreams come true.

Tickets to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz are $19-19.50 each, with group and field trip rates available, and can be purchased through the box office by calling 301-634-2270 or online at www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org. Children under the age of one are free. The press performance is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, April 4th.

All performances will take place at Adventure Theatre MTC, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD, 20812 in the historic Glen Echo Park.


The rest of this post is a love fest to the creative and production team. Please enjoy!

Adventure Theatre (founded in 1951) and Musical Theater Center (founded in 1986) merged into one organization in 2012.  The combined entity is called Adventure Theatre MTC.  Located in Glen Echo Park (Glen Echo, MD) and The Wintergreen Plaza (Rockville, MD), Adventure Theatre MTC (ATMTC) cultivates new generations of artists and life-long audiences by creating memorable theatrical productions and experiences and by providing young people the highest quality training in musical theater and theater.

The ATMTC Academy offerings complement the National & State Fine Arts Standards of Learning, providing a challenging outlet for students to develop the skills necessary to be successful performers - including self-discipline, teamwork, problem solving, and self-confidence.  ATMTC Academy Alumni have numerous Broadway, national tour, TV and film credits.  ATMTC fosters collaborations and partnerships with local and national arts, humanities and civic organizations.  These collaborations, which have been recognized locally, regionally, and nationally, help to ensure that all of our programming is diverse, affordable and accessible. Adventure Theatre MTC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

A Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) production of Jack and the Bean Stalk was the first professional play I remember seeing. It was at the Palestine Civic Center. It was one of my favorite stories and I just fell in love with Harp. I had already started writing short stories about my stuffed animals to entertain my little sister, but at seeing this production, I knew that I wanted to bring stories to life. 

Years later, I saw Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" on PBS and discovered that theatre could do so much more than delight, enchant, and entertain. I learned that plays could crack open the myths of the world and speak the truth. This meant that my stories could have a greater sense of purpose and that was powerful. 

It should come as no surprise that "Giants in the Sky" is one of my favorite songs in "Into the Woods." These lyrics in particular resonate with me:

"The roof, the house, and your Mother at the door.
The roof, the house and the world you never thought to explore.
And you think of all of the things you've seen,
And you wish that you could live in between,
And you're back again,
Only different than before,
After the sky.

There are Giants in the sky!
There are big tall terrible awesome scary wonderful
Giants in the sky!"

Like Jack, when the cyclone takes Dorothy “over the rainbow” to the wonderful and magical land of Oz, she has an adventure that changes her life. While Oz doesn't have giants, magic beans, or a beautiful harp, Dorothy must brave witches, flying monkeys, and a Haunted Forest all to meet the Wizard of Oz, who she hopes will help her return home. With the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy learns the value of friendship, that true courage requires you to believe in yourself, and that you'll be far happier and perhaps a little less lonely if you learn to appreciate all that you have. 

As I embark on this adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for Adventure Theatre, I feel the joy and honor of a great noble task ahead of me. For some young audience member, this may be their very first production and it might even inspire a future playwright. Either way, I'm excited to be working with director Roberta Gasbarre and dramaturg Otis Ramsey-Zoe, and couldn't be more proud or appreciative for this opportunity. Of course, I very much look forward to sharing it with all of you!

Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.

Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as "historical" in the children's library; for the time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.

Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was written solely to please children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out." 

Click here to learn more L. Frank Baum and here to read the entire Oz Series.