Open Forum

Hi there,
I am directing Wizard of Oz in a small shared  black box theatre, so our set has to be portable. Has anyone seen or directed a production in which student actors moved the yellow brick road to where they needed it to be for the next scene. I am thinking of having like a 6 ft piece of painted canvas hanging from a rod that actors would literally pick up and move as they sang yellow brick road, and then would lay it down in a new spot for the next scene. I am trying to convince my crew director that this a good solution and that we don't need a literal yellow brick road. Can you direct me to any video footage I might show her? I've also considered having actors actually be the road (or at least a part of it). Any input?
Thanks!
Amy

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Amy Penney
Albany Middle School
Richmond CA
------------------------------

We did Oz a few years ago and invested in some thin boards that we put around the audience. We painted yellow footsteps on them and the cast would actually follow the yellow brick road. It Was awesome being near the audience with a spot, but the highlight was when the witch was looking through her telescope at Dorothy and her crew - she was in the balcony and could look down and actually have that moment in the spotlight in the audience. It worked out great for us. And we are constantly seeing and using those boards over and over.

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Jennie Berry
Dawsonville GA
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------Original Message------

Hi there,
I am directing Wizard of Oz in a small shared  black box theatre, so our set has to be portable. Has anyone seen or directed a production in which student actors moved the yellow brick road to where they needed it to be for the next scene. I am thinking of having like a 6 ft piece of painted canvas hanging from a rod that actors would literally pick up and move as they sang yellow brick road, and then would lay it down in a new spot for the next scene. I am trying to convince my crew director that this a good solution and that we don't need a literal yellow brick road. Can you direct me to any video footage I might show her? I've also considered having actors actually be the road (or at least a part of it). Any input?
Thanks!
Amy

------------------------------
Amy Penney
Albany Middle School
Richmond CA
------------------------------

------Original Message------

Hi there,
I am directing Wizard of Oz in a small shared  black box theatre, so our set has to be portable. Has anyone seen or directed a production in which student actors moved the yellow brick road to where they needed it to be for the next scene. I am thinking of having like a 6 ft piece of painted canvas hanging from a rod that actors would literally pick up and move as they sang yellow brick road, and then would lay it down in a new spot for the next scene. I am trying to convince my crew director that this a good solution and that we don't need a literal yellow brick road. Can you direct me to any video footage I might show her? I've also considered having actors actually be the road (or at least a part of it). Any input?
Thanks!
Amy

------------------------------
Amy Penney
Albany Middle School
Richmond CA
------------------------------

When I directed this show at a middle school, I cast a student with dance experience as the "yellow brick road dancer." She had a dance feature during "Follow the Yellow Brick Road," and then she would re-enter between each scene and dance across the stage as the other actors followed her. We didn't have a physical yellow brick road -- just her. (She did carry a piece of yellow poly silk to suggest the idea of the "road.") This streamlined our set changes, created a new opportunity to feature a student, and tied in with my overall vision of a more stripped-down version of Wizard of Oz. I've attached a photo.

I find that with a show like The Wizard of Oz, a lot of people come in with a very specific idea of how everything should look -- but there are actually lots of opportunities for creative and out-of-the-box solutions. Hope you find a good solution for your production!


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Elizabeth Berg
Drama Teacher
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For our production, we used a series of stage lights with brick gobos and yellow gels. That way it was effortless for them to appear or disappear. The witch could even sweep her arm across the stage to "create" them, and the showed up as her arm moved. It worked great (despite the insistence of my lighting guy...until he saw it)!

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Douglas "Chip" Rome
Theatre Consultant
Educational Stages
Burke VA
http://bit.ly/EdStages
http://bit.ly/RWTEOview
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#Amy Penney

I have directed Oz 3 times and all 3 times I used styrofoam bricks that we painted yellow &
the Cast carried from scene to scene singing “Follow the ro-o-oad, follow the road, over & over again into the audience until we got back up on the stage for the next scene, and as we walked up the steps we put the bricks on the landing, next scene picked them up as we went down the steps, twirling them, dancing with them etc.

Maria Stadtmueller
St. Augustine School
Kendall Park, NJ

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------Original Message------

Hi there,
I am directing Wizard of Oz in a small shared  black box theatre, so our set has to be portable. Has anyone seen or directed a production in which student actors moved the yellow brick road to where they needed it to be for the next scene. I am thinking of having like a 6 ft piece of painted canvas hanging from a rod that actors would literally pick up and move as they sang yellow brick road, and then would lay it down in a new spot for the next scene. I am trying to convince my crew director that this a good solution and that we don't need a literal yellow brick road. Can you direct me to any video footage I might show her? I've also considered having actors actually be the road (or at least a part of it). Any input?
Thanks!
Amy

------------------------------
Amy Penney
Albany Middle School
Richmond CA
------------------------------