Follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Goshen Theater starting this weekend

Jul. 25—GOSHEN — Get ready for a spell-binding magical journey jam-packed with childhood favorites as "The Wizard of Oz" is coming to Goshen Theater Friday.

"When you come to see a live show, it's always a unique experience, even if you see the same show multiple times," director Matt Manley said.

With the 28 cast members making up just a portion of those involved in the musical production, a good number of those involved are youth or teens, including the production's star, Dorothy, played by Erica Dorbin.

In addition to the large ensemble of youths starting at first grade, all-female leads for the show, including the traditionally masculine characters of the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, will help audiences better explore the characters.

"Traditionally, Oz is a dream," Manley said. "It's even like that in the movie. Her family and friends show up as the scarecrow, the lion, and whatever, and when I was thinking about Oz being a dream — Dorothy's dream — she's the one who gets knocked out by the tornado, I was thinking about the psychological perspective of dreams and how they say that dreams sometimes represent things about you or what you're going through.

"I was thinking if the main characters represented different parts of Dorothy, wouldn't they be feminine? And I kind of just ran with that."

That's not all that's different in the stage adaption though.

"There are some plot points that are a little bit different, " Manley said. "The Witch has a unique depth in the stage version. Dorothy gets home a different way. ... There's a lot of stuff that's a little bit different and I was worried about that when I first read the script. ... That's actually why I ran in such a different direction, too, because it's already not what you're expecting, so let's go even further with that."

Still, fans of the movie and the book will recognize much of the story in the stage adaption.

"It is very similar to the movie — all of the music from the movie is in the show," Manley said. "There is like one song on the stage that is not in the movie, which is a beautiful song."

Characters will also be recognizable to most attendees, even though actors will attempt to put their own spin on them.

Sharon Weissmann, Cassopolis, Michigan, portrays the Wicked Witch of the West.

"This is kind of a dream role for me," Weissmann said. "It's completely different than anything I've ever done. This is more of a character part. You can do whatever you want, you have fun with it, be as silly as you want, and everybody is scared of you."

Weissmann said she enjoys the fact that it's a well-recognized role, so there's already an expectation of it that is mean and scary.

"It's not a huge role, even though everybody knows it," she added.

Artistic Director Marilyn Mason said it's not the first time she's worked on a "The Wizard of Oz" stage production, but every time is different. She's played in the show, and directed music before.

"There are so many versions of 'The Wizard of Oz' and this is a different version to me," she said. "This one is more based on the book."

"Even though this show has some different paths it goes down, people will still leave humming the tunes," she said. "It's just a classic, and I love that we have a wide intergenerational experience happening on stage."

The cast is:

Aunt Em / Gloria: Elizabeth Sternke

Uncle Henry / The Wizard of Oz: Honey Bear

Dorothy: Erica Dorbin

Mayor of the Munchkins: Patrick Eikler

The Good Witch: Angie Distelhorst

The Wicked Witch of the West: Sharon Weissmann

The Scarecrow: Neeki Vaghefi

The Tin Woodman: Haley Willis

The Cowardly Lion: Kiersten Friesner

Private / Dancer: Heaven Coffman

Oz Lady / Dancer: Irish Cortez

Lord Growlie / Dancer: Skye Steury

Visiting Witch No. 1 / Dancer: Jamie Miller

Visiting Witch No. 2 / Another Girl / Dancer: Aysia Adkins

Foremost General / Tibia / Dancer: Noah Troyer

Servant / A Girl / Dancer: Lexi Schwartz

Ozmas / Dancer: Kenya Gilyard

Munchkin: Jocelyn Antonelli

Munchkin: Rosemary Antonelli

Munchkin Coroner: Krissy Dyrhaug

Munchkin: Ashley: Hage

Peeping Munchkin: Miles Hage

Munchkin: Sarah Horton

Farmhand / Munchkin Farmer: Layne Miller

Munchkin: Sierra Riivald

Munchkin: Reagan Stutzman

Munchkin: Amber Yoder

Munchkin Barrister: Kieran Yoder

Sponsors for the production are The Goshen News, Fables Books, and Steve & Shelly Fidler.

"The Wizard of Oz" opens at the Goshen Theater Friday. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. this Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday and at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 3-5 and 2 p.m. Aug. 6.

Tickets can be purchased at www.goshentheater.org/events or by calling the Goshen Theater Box Office at 574-312-3701.

Tickets are $20 or $25 depending on seating, but guests can also use the discount code MUNCHKINS to receive $5 off each ticket when purchased online.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.