(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on Feb. 11, 2009.)
The Huntsville Festival of the Arts and the Rotary Club of Huntsville are delighted and excited to be partnering to co-produce the upcoming theatrical presentation The Wizard of Oz during the last two weeks in April.
Community-wide auditions were held in November and rehearsals have been underway since early January. In addition to involving over 100 talented cast members, the musical requires myriad individuals to design and create costumes, build sets, work backstage and assist in numerous ways to deliver an incredible production.
“The partners in this production are passionate community-minded organizations, with a focus on giving back,” said festival general manager and Rotarian Rob Saunders. “I understand funds generated by the musical, in excess of expenses, will be reinvested for the greater benefit of the Huntsville area.”
Barb White, president of the Rotary Club of Huntsville, confirmed that the Rotarians’ anticipated share of the play’s proceeds will be directed to improvements to the Huntsville Public Library.
“Our club has committed funds to assist the library in two important projects,” said White. “The first phase involves improvements to the children’s section, including purchase of new and updated reading material, the addition of an electronic reference collection and a child-sized computer with desk and chairs.”
White added that the second phase will see the construction of a youth section in the library, where teens and young adults can interact and feel welcomed. In addition, there will be some minor renovations and additional shelving and furniture, along with an increase in teen-relevant books, magazines and journals, as well as in electronic format materials.
Kareen Burns, Huntsville Festival of the Arts president, said funds resulting from the musical will be directed to enhance projects related to the festival’s youth education committee. The festival board recently revised its educational mandate to focus on “mentoring today’s youth for tomorrow’s artistic excellence." Over the past few years, a number of exciting initiatives have been undertaken by the festival, partnering with local high school and public schools, including the Kaleidoscope projects, numerous musical collaborations, the HHS Film Festival, the Group of Seven mural project and a series of workshops covering topics from ‘careers in music’ to ‘creating performance poetry.’
“Opportunities to work with talented, young and aspiring artists are only limited by our imagination, and by available funding,” said Burns. “It seems so relevant that presenting a classic musical aimed at children and families, involving many young actors, will allow us to fund and create many new related programs. This is a win-win partnership.”
Saunders summarizes the situation this way: “We have a few hundred community-minded residents, young and old, giving many, many hours of their time and talent, all in support of creating the best production possible. The rest is up to the community. At this point, we have nine shows planned, and will likely add an additional one for a school audience. There is nothing I would like more than to address the actors, just prior to opening night, and tell them that the entire run is sold out. If that happens, I am confident that both the Rotary club and the festival will meet the challenge of ensuring that any net funds raised will be used to create the positive impacts they have outlined.”
