Follow the Yellow Brick Road

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Neighbors | Christine Keeling.Oz guards, from left, Emilee Peterson and Samantha Swoger stand in front of the Emerald City. The Austintown Middle School students were part of the drama club's presentation of the Wizard of Oz Mar. 12 and Mar. 13.

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Neighbors | Christine Keeling.Austintown Middle School student Tori Lehn arranges the set for a practice run of the Wizard of Oz by the Austintown Middle Schools drama club Mar. 11. Lehn was stage manager for the production.

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Neighbors | Christine Keeling.The audience congratulates, from left, Karen Labra, Ceanna Ingram, Albert Jordan and Ed Mauch for their performance in the Wizard of Oz Mar. 12..The play was performed by members of the Austintown Middle School drama club directed by Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Vickers.

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Neighbors | Christine Keeling.Austintown Middle School drama club students, from left, Jackie Knutti and Jennie McAndrew prepare to play Emerald City citizens. The drama club performed the Wizard of Oz Mar. 12 nd Mar. 13 in the school's auditorium.

By CHRISTINE KEELING

ckeeling@vindy.com

More than 300 people followed the Yellow Brick Road Mar. 12 into the Austintown Middle School auditorium to kick off the opening night of the school drama club’s performance of the Wizard of Oz.

After three months of practice and under leadership from Austintown Middle School teachers Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Vickers, the play began with Aunt Em, played by Caity Giles, rushing through the audience asking if any of them had seen Dorothy.

The curtain opened and the classic story began to unravel.

Seventh-grader Karen Labra portrayed the homesick Dorothy and Kayla Sabo was her trusted dog, Toto.

Joining the journey to Oz was Albert Jordan as the Scarecrow, Ceanna Ingram as the Tinman, and Ed Mauch as the Cowardly Lion.

The Austintown drama club added unique twists to the familiar plot. Emily Kollar, the Wicked Witch of the West, engaged Victorian Patterson, or Glinda, in a vocal duet, “What Is This Feeling?” The audience cheered and clapped to the beat of “Thriller” when a troop of flying monkeys performed a Michael Jackson-inspired dance routine that opened the second part of the play.

At times, the set came alive. Students playing trees threw apples at the audience and poppies lulled the Oz-bound gang to sleep on their way to see Logan Pasqual as the Wizard.

“It was an adrenaline rush,” said Ingram. “I felt like a celebrity.”

The Austintown Middle School Jazz Band, directed by Mr. Alexander, played during intermission and provided music for Labra’s final solo performance of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

The Drama Club received a standing ovation and did an encore presentation of the two-hour play Mar. 13 at the school. Residents can view the play on Austintown Channel 19, Apr. 2 at 10 a.m.