(By MATT PIKE)
The Dance Arts Center Performing Company will put on a performance of the Wizard of Oz this Saturday at the Historic Missouri Theatre.
Dance Arts Center director Marla Heeler says this is a brand-new show the company is putting on, which takes a lot of work to put together
“The costumes and all of that, there is a great orchestrated version that has been used by several professional companies and so we are able to use that music, but it’s not the music that people would think they would hear like in the movie, it is orchestrated music that is specific,” Heeler says on the KFEQmunnity show. “It still helps to tell the story, but yeah there’s a lot that goes into building a brand-new show.”
Heeler says the show is the same story everyone loves, paired down to around an hour so everyone of any age can enjoy it
“We manage to get the story done in just over an hour,” Heeler says. “We had a run through last weekend and one of our young teachers brought her daughter whose only five, and she was my real test market right, to see if the five-year-old would sit through the performance in the studio and she did, she was riveted, so that makes me very excited that I think anyone would really enjoy the show.”
Heeler says many of the students that join into the company almost enjoy these performances more than the annual dance recitals
“They’re just great kids and they’re a really great crew,” Heeler explains. “I think this year we have a really special crew of kids who just are there for one another, they’re helping when we’re in rehearsal and somebody says they’re going to need help with that quick change it’s not crickets, it’s somebody being like oh yup I got it no problem, I’ve got time I can do it, and they’re asking really good questions, they’re getting into the story.”
There will be two performances on Saturday, one at 2pm and another at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased online, or at the box office on the day of the show. for $15 or $20.
(You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.)