G.S. Lakie puts its own spin on ‘Wizard of Oz’

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on March 11, 2023.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman G.S Lakie Middle School students perform a scene from their Wizard of Oz production Friday afternoon at the Yates Theatre, staged as part of the school's 20th anniversary celebrations.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

G.S. Lakie Middle School celebrated its 20th anniversary with a collaborative production this past week that highlighted all the performing arts and design programs offered at the school.

Staff and students took on the Wizard of Oz for their big show, and they gave it a middle school twist.

One of four directors, Courtney Wehlage said she was in charge of writing the script after reading the original story by L. Frank Baum and realizing it was public domain, which means they would not have copyright issues if they decided to use it.

“We (directors) started prepping last May when we were trying to decide our shows for the year and we realized it was the 20th anniversary of G.S. Lakie. So we wanted to do something super collaborative and really huge and so we started talking about those ideas late in May and then we got our kids in September and then we have our kids from September till March just after this show.

 “We took the story of the Wizard of Oz after we all read the book and then we turned it into more middle school spin with different music genres,” said Wehlage.

 She explained that in their spinoff, Dorothy was at Kansas middle school when a tornado hits the school, and she gets knocked out while standing by her locker. Once she awakens, she’s in the land of Oz where she meets the Tin Man whose hip-hop group thave lost their heart and cannot seem to be able to win a competition.

 “The Tin Man is all hip-hop music, then they meet the Lion and he’s lost his courage because he’s got some bad rock reviews. He’s a rocker, and now he doesn’t know if he can perform because of all the bad reviews, and then they meet the Scarecrow, who is all about country music and they think they’re not smart because they’re not farmers,” said Wehlage.

 She said later on they all realize they all possess good qualities on their way to finding the Wizard of Oz while following the Yellow Brick Road and dealing with many challenges thrown their way by the Wicked Witch of the West.

 The production was staged five times between Thursday and Friday and Wehlage said they had very good reviews from people in the audience.

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