Middle schoolers to present 'Wizard of Oz' at West Ottawa

HOLLAND — For several dozen West Ottawa middle schoolers, it’s officially crunch time.

After months of tryouts and rehearsals, lines and choreography, the district's production of "The Wizard of Oz" is opening this week.

The show, directed by Joe Huber, includes 62 middle schoolers on cast and 39 high schoolers on crew. Cast members come from Harbor Lights and Macatawa Bay.

“We had tryouts at the end of February and they went for about four or five days,” Huber said. “It’s not easy. These kids had to show some stamina through all of that. ... It takes about eight weeks to get the whole show together.”

Huber said taking on such a storied tale as "The Wizard of Oz" was a huge undertaking. There was also choreography to learn, sets to build, lines to memorize, and costumes and makeup to choose.

The production varies slightly from the original, Huber said.

“People will certainly recognize everything in the show but in the same token, we are making little changes here and there,” he said. “We take a little bit of liberty and have a little bit of fun with it."

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“We hope people will join us for this journey."

The show runs 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, May 3-4, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 5, at the West Ottawa Performing Arts Center. Visit westottawa.seatyourself.biz to purchase tickets.

— Contact reporter Austin Metz at ametz@hollandsentinel.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Middle schoolers to present 'Wizard of Oz' at West Ottawa