‘Wizard of Oz’ coming to St. Anne’s Community Theater

St. Anne’s Community Theater in Barrington will perform “The Wizard of Oz,” the organization’s 15th production, over the next two weekends.

Calling “The Wizard of Oz” a “great family show,” St. Anne’s Community Theater founder Mike Yehl said he chose the musical because he wanted a production with something for everyone.

All characters are played by high school, middle school, or elementary school students from the Barrington area, Hoffman Estates, Palatine and McHenry.

The musical, based on the book “The Wonder Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum, is about a young girl named Dorothy who, after being swept into the mysterious land of Oz by a tornado, must then struggle to get back home.

Though the “The Wizard of Oz” has been in production since May, the history of St. Anne’s Community Theater goes back much further.

Fifteen years ago, Yehl noticed a lack of theater at the middle school level in Barrington schools and a decreasing number of community theaters due to rising production costs.

Though the theater uses St. Anne Catholic School’s stage and gymnasium to perform, participants come from many denominations and religions, and the focus is on developing “a sense of community and camaraderie.”

With the support of St. Anne teachers, Yehl produced “Treasure Island” in 1997. Productions that have followed include “The Sound of Music,” “Grease,” “West Side Story” and “Beauty and the Beast.”

Community response was positive from the start, Yehl said, as the theater gives students another way to spend their summer. Participants work on productions four days a week for much of summer.

Yehl says several St. Anne alumni are in show business professionally — one is a stuntman, another an opera singer, plus one actor and one producer.

More than 400 students participate both behind the scenes and onstage in the latest production.

Behind the scenes, set designer Joanne Lach borrowed and built pieces to recreate a set that would be similar to “The Wizard of Oz” movie.

Yehl noted that, similar to the movie, which begins in black and white until Dorothy and Toto arrive in Oz, the play opens with gray clothes, scenery and props that become vibrantly colorful once Oz is revealed.

Yehl said he looks forward to “recreating a classic on a live stage and watching the faces of adults and children come alive as the production does.”

Dorothy is played by Alex Gudhe, Glinda by Alex Rouse, the Scarecrow by Quinn Kelch, the Tin Man by John McCue, the Cowardly Lion by Grant Daigle, the Wicked Witch of the West by Gracie Meier, and the Wizard of Oz by Stefano Egleston.

A special fundraising dinner performance will be held July 25, with tickets costing $50. Details are at stannetheater.com. The theater is wheelchair accessible and air-conditioned.

If you go

What: “Wizard of Oz”

When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, July 20, 21, 27, 28; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, July 22

Where: St. Anne Parish Center Gymnasium, 120 N. Ela St., Barrington

Admission: $15, $10 for kids younger than 5 or seniors 65 and older

For tickets: Email SACTtickets@gmail.com or call (847) 382-5300, ext. 400, with last name, number of tickets, performance date and phone number