On a Friday night in SLO’s Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church, dozens of kids are meeting to rehearse their songs for OperaSLO‘s upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz.
Unlike the Civic Ballet’s recent production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz based on the 1939 film’s source material—a 1900 children’s novel by L. Frank Baum—this production will nearly mirror the film song-for-song and scene-for-scene, right down to the flying monkeys. The lead actors are nationally recognized talents brought in especially for the shows on May 17 and 18.
On this Friday night, however, it’s all about the slew of roughly 40 local kids who will populate Munchkinland. Finding these kids was a process.
“I put out a BOLO [be on the lookout] to all the schools,” Children’s Chorus Manager Luana Geradis joked.
Kids came forward. Then came the audition process.
“They had to submit and perform a musical theater piece,” Geradis explained. “It was a very professional process. We wanted to make sure they understood this wasn’t children’s theater. This was a professional company, and they had to earn their spot to be in it.”
Those selected were given “homework,” character development worksheets to help them understand who they’re playing and how they should carry themselves onstage.
Director of Choruses Kristina Horacek-Prozesky began rehearsal with vocal exercises to loosen up the kids’ vocal cords and help them sing from the diaphragm.
“Woo, woo, woo. Ah, ah, ah,” they intoned in unison.
Horacek-Prozesky next had them get into a big circle and on an eight-count practice stepping together to their right, then left, then forward and back.
“We’re introducing choreography at the next rehearsal,” Geradis whispered, “so we’re getting them used to movement. A lot of these kids have never danced before.”
There are few sounds as adorable and stirring as children singing in three-part harmony. Horacek-Prozesky had each group sing their part separately, then together.
They’re working on the songs that the Munchkins sing after Dorothy’s house has killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and Horacek-Prozesky is encouraging them to project more because when they get onstage, they’ll only have one chance to get it right.
“But we’re performing more than once, right?” asked a little voice.
“Yes, but how many times does a person who buys a ticket get to see it?” Horacek-Prozesky gently asked.
“Just once,” the little voice replied.
“Yes, that’s right,” Horacek-Prozesky continued. “And we’re singing for that person, so we have to give them our best.”
OperaSLO General and Artistic Director Brian Asher Alhadeff will be conducting the OperaSLO Grand Orchestra during the performances and explained in a phone interview that they’re using the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) version of the musical.
“It’s almost a direct copy of the movie,” he said. “It’s the most famous version, the one that attracts the largest number of audiences because everybody wants to hear ‘We’re Off to See the Wizard’ and ‘Ding Dong the Witch is Dead’ and ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.'”
Alhadeff makes it clear that this production will truly be spectacular with a cast of more than 200 performers.
“When OperaSLO produces a musical, we go the whole nine yards. We make huge two-story sets, large drops, costumes, a huge orchestra. We try to re-create the sound spectrum you’d experience in a Hollywood musical. We throw the grand scale of opera onto musical theater.”
Never work with children or animals is advice Alhadeff has clearly ignored. Toto will be played by an actual dog. Paso Robles’ Vineyard Kennels co-owner Jon Estes is in the show, and his dog, Big Mac, will play the furry scamp.
And then there are all those Munchkin kids.
“There’s no way to create Munchkinland without getting a lot of kids involved,” Alhadeff conceded. “That’s the sound that you need to really sell a city of Munchkin people to a room as large as the 1,200-seat Performing Arts Center.”
The cherry on top of this theater spectacle will be flying actors.
“This year, 2025, is the company’s 40-year anniversary, and it’s the first time in the company’s history that we’ve ever actually harnessed actors and flown them on the stage,” Alhadeff said. “In order to do that, you have to contract with a professional fly-rigging company.”
An Illinois company, Vertigo, will be doing the onstage heavy lifting, but Alhadeff had to do some heavy lifting of his own to make it happen. Flying actors adds $15,000 to the cost of production, so Alhadeff hit up a handful of wealthy local philanthropists, meaning these generous donors are subsidizing the cost of tickets for everyone.
“Absolutely. One hundred percent,” Alhadeff agreed. “The County Office of Education purchased 400 tickets to give away to lower-income students, and to teachers and staff who might not have the money to attend. The only way to produce at this capacity is to have tremendous sponsorship to offset the cost. Otherwise, we’d need to sell every ticket in the house for 250 bucks each.”
Currently, just two matinee performances are scheduled, but according to Alhadeff, a third evening performance will probably be added.
“Tickets are going really fast. We have a formula; if 80 percent of the tickets are sold by one month out, we add an evening show on Saturday.”
Are you ready to be transported to the Emerald City? Δ
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Best of SLO County 2025.
