By Gillian Brunette
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.”
