Three exceptionally talented young ladies are sharing the role of Dorothy in the April production of The Wizard of Oz, presented by the Huntsville Festival of the Arts the local Rotary club.
Kristin Dalziel (pronounced Dee-elle), Holly Maurer and Jessie Bacon beat out dozens of other hopefuls in their bid to play the coveted role.
Each one will bring her own special interpretation to the part but all three agree that Dorothy is a young girl to whom they can relate.
OZ BOUND: Jessie Bacon, Holly Maurer and Kristin Dalziel, from left, take time out from Wizard of Oz rehearsals at Trinity United Church on Sunday. The three are sharing the part of Dorothy in the musical, which hits the Algonquin Theatre stage in April. [Photo by Jon Snelson.]
“Dorothy portrays what every girl dreams about, a place beyond the rainbow they call home, and happiness,” said Maurer.
All three saw the movie when they were very young. Maurer and Bacon admit certain characters, such as the Wicked Witch of the West, scared them.
The first thing Dalziel did when she was picked for the role was to watch the movie again. “The story is heartfelt and beautifully written. It made me cry when I was a little girl and it made me cry again. It also made me laugh. When I read the script, I laughed. (The play is) actually a lot funnier than the movie,” she said.
Dalziel, at 19, is the most experienced of the three performers. In addition to singing, she plays violin, piano and trumpet. The first time she performed on stage was at the age of 11.
“I did an Avon Christmas special in Toronto. It was a mini-stage play and I was the daughter of a pessimistic man who didn’t like Christmas. It was fun,” she said.
Hoping to hit the big time, Dalziel went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in February of last year, where she auditioned for the part of Maria in the Toronto stage production of The Sound of Music.
“I was one of just three out of 327 girls who made it to the next level. That was pretty cool,” she said, adding that she also auditioned for CBC’s Triple Sensation.
Dalziel’s first foray into community theatre in Huntsville was the musical Aida. She also performed in Fiddler on the Roof, portraying the third daughter, Chava. Other credits include A Gift to Last and A Christmas Carol, as well as a major role in Stina Nyquist’s The Lost Chord. As well, Dalziel performs in the Northern Blues Review series and is a member of the Larks choral group.
Another 19-year-old, Maurer is an accomplished pianist who is working toward a teaching degree through the Royal Conservatory of Music. She currently has eight students, “all beginners.”
Her mother, Christine, is a vocalist, so Maurer has been singing from a very young age. “I did plays with my mother through the Rotary,” she said, adding one – Nuncrackers – was at the age of about 9.
She added: “I used to be on a travelling church ministry team, singing in churches.”
More recently, Maurer was on stage in the Huntsville High School production of Grease. “That was my first real main theatre role. I played Marty and I loved it so, when I heard about Wizard, I thought I would try out.”
Bacon, at 16, is the youngest of the three Dorothys. Getting the role came as quite a surprise, as she didn’t originally seek the part.
“I auditioned for the chorus, and then I was called back for Dorothy and got it,” she said.
Bacon comes from a very musical family. Her mother, Sharon, is a well-known harpist and all five of the Bacon offspring play musical instruments.
Her first theatre role was in the chorus of Oliver, a Bracebridge Rotary production at the Gravenhurst Opera House two years ago. “I was also in Fiddler on the Roof. I played the fourth daughter, Shprinze. It was a lot of fun,” she said.
Other credits include a part in the recent dinner theatre production in Bracebridge titled Christmas at Bracebridge Hall. “I was one of the daughters of Lord and Lady Bracebridge.”
It also turned out to be a demanding portrayal. “We had a power cut and had to act through candlelight. That was a first,” she laughed.
Having seen the Wizard of Oz movie only once as a small child, Bacon watched it again before auditioning. “I wanted to be sure about it,” she said. “Seeing it again, I realized Dorothy is so like me. When she was in Kansas, she had outbursts when her dog was taken away. At that point, her world came crashing down, and I can relate to that.”
Summing up, Dalziel said: “There’s a complete, total innocence that Judy Garland brought to the role of Dorothy. She was in her mid-20s playing a 15-year-old, yet she managed to convey that, while Dorothy was infantile and naïve, she was also strong and intelligent.”
Concluded Maurer: “When I played Marty in Grease, she was a tease, which isn’t my personality at all. It’ll be good to do Dorothy. She is more like me. It’ll be easier to play.”
During this time of year, when the frenetic Christmas rush dies down and resolutions for the new year dominate the landscape, the Huntsville Festival of the Arts (HFA) is once again resolved to continue to support young people in the belief that mentoring today’s youth is an important step in ensuring future artistic excellence.
The HFA knows that providing mentorship opportunities through a variety of artists, venues and applications allows local students to embrace art and creativity, which in turn enriches their lives. In this regard, our educational outreach committee has been involved in programs at both the elementary and secondary level, which encompass all of the art forms.
Since September, students have been immersed in wonderful projects involving music, storytelling, drama, dance and an assortment of multimedia events focused on creativity and skill development. These kinds of projects will continue to be developed and enhanced into the new year.
In collaboration with local schools and the Trillium Lakelands District School Board, the HFA endeavours to ensure that students are exposed to the work of a variety of artists, have the opportunity to use the theatre for a multitude of events and presentations, are able to share their creativity with the general public, and are presented with scholarship opportunities for future educational pursuits.
In the new year, the HFA will provide its patrons with a chance to witness young people displaying their talent at the Algonquin Theatre through drama, film, song, music and displays of mural painting.
In order to hone their skills, students will also be involved in school workshops focused on poetry and the spoken word, music, art and film. Stay tuned for dates for upcoming events at the Algonquin Theatre, where you can support our local talent.
HFA director Suzanne Riverin chairs the festival's Education Outreach committee.
We invite all and any suggestions involving youth and educational outreach to help develop and mentor young talent.
As Pablo Picasso once said: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
The Trumpeter column is intended as an informational forum for the Huntsville Festival of the Arts. Please visit www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca, or the HFA blog at www.trumpeterhfa.blogspot.com for more information.
Despite the constant chatter about economic hardships continuing through 2009, programming for the Huntsville Festival of the Arts promises to remain exciting for the upcoming season.
“We’re moving ahead with the awareness that there will be economic challenges and the festival wants to program with that in mind,” said festival general manager Rob Saunders. “But we will not give up our goal to bring in top-notch, challenging and rewarding entertainment.”
Saunders stated that last year’s festival programming was “aggressive” with a total of 30 shows offered in July and August. He said that, over the years, the festival has had seasons with more programming than others but, so far, planning remains solid for 2009.
“We will redo the annual Jazz Festival on the long weekend in August,” said Saunders. “In the end, we’re not going to not do programming we think makes sense to do. We’re just saying, ‘Let’s be sensible.’ If we’ve got a good act, and it makes sense to produce the artist, we’ll book that artist. We’re underwriting the Wizard of Oz in the spring, and we’ll be doing nine shows of that, which is a fairly aggressive call on our part. We debated doing six but we stuck with nine to make sure it’s out there and available.”
Saunders went on to say that while everyone is feeling the hit of a poor economy the festival is not above the realities of the market. There won’t be any cutbacks in programming, but the committee is not ignorant of the fact that there are economic issues out there.
“If we don’t sell tickets, we feel the pain,” he said. “We know consumers only have so much money. We had our most sellouts last year and the largest ticket sales ever. There were some shows with a smaller audience but 14 sellouts is still pretty good. Compared to other theatres in our area, our programming is the most broad-based and aggressive. The theatre has given us lots of opportunity for a variety of entertainment, so it’s important we don’t take it for granted.”
Karin Terziano, general manager of the Algonquin Theatre, indicated that, because the theatre primarily rents to users as opposed to doing its own programming, her concern is that all renters will be cutting back.
“The poor economy is affecting what people have to spend on tickets,” she said, adding that there are fewer shows scheduled than last year but nothing that could significantly affect theatre profits. “Our programming is done from January to June and we’re not far off from last year at that period. One of the big differences this year is that, last year, we had four plays in that period. This year, only one play has been scheduled for that period, but we will be open for business, and it won’t seem any different to the public.”
To view upcoming programming visit www.algonquintheatre.ca.
