Circa Newcomer Cherishes Taking Spotlight in New “Wizard of Oz”
One of the most famous musical films of all time returns to its stage adaptation at Circa ’21 in Rock Island, as “The Wizard of Oz” comes to life, opening this weekend.
Running through Sept. 5, this glorious live version (with pre-recorded tracks) of L. Frank Baum’s beloved storybook tale (first published in 1900 and brought to the screen in 1939) boasts such unforgettable songs as “If I Only Had a Brain,” “Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead” and the timeless “Over the Rainbow.”
As viewers of all ages know, “The Wizard of Oz” finds Dorothy Gale, a young girl living on a Kansas farm with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, dreaming of escaping her mundane life. The family’s mean neighbor Miss Gulch threatens to impound Dorothy’s cherished dog Toto, so Dorothy and Toto run away. They meet up with Professor Marvel, who convinces Dorothy to return home.
Suddenly a cyclone hits and Dorothy and Toto, seeking shelter in the house, are transported to the magical Land of Oz. Shortly after arriving, Dorothy meets Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. Apparently, Dorothy’s house has landed upon and fatally stricken the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy consequently seeks a way back home to Kansas and sets off to see the Wizard of Oz alongside three new friends: the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion. But the departed witch’s malevolent sister, the Wicked Witch of the West, has other plans for the storybook heroes.
Directing and choreographing Circa ’21’s new production of “Oz” is venue veteran Tony Parise, whose previous musicals for the dinner playhouse have included “Smokey Joe’s Café,” “A Christmas Story: The Musical” and “Almost Heaven: Songs of John Denver.” Area favorite Ron May, who recently directed the Black Box Theatre’s and Opera Quad Cities’ “Master Class,” serves as music director.
Making her Circa debut as Dorothy is Sophie Kaegi, with additional iconic characters played by Adam Cerny (Scarecrow), Bobby Becher (Tin Man), Jeremy Littlejohn (Cowardly Lion), Madeline Brennan (the Wicked Witch of the West), Gillian Weatherford (Glinda and Aunt Em), Brad Hauskins (Uncle Henry) and Harold Truitt (the Wizard). Meanwhile, two adorable pooches, Faye Faye and Bruno, will alternate performances as Toto.
Jeremy Littlejohn and Sophie Kaegi.
Kaegi, a 21-year-old native of the Chicago suburb of Palatine, is in her Circa debut as Dorothy, who does not leave the stage for most of the entire show.
Her past credits include “Paranormal Activity” and “An Inspector Calls” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; “Elf The Musical” at Paramount Theatre, and the title role in “Annie” (when she was 14) at Citadel Theatre. She was a musical theater major at Western Michigan University before dropping out last fall for “Paranormal Activity.” Kaegi plans to transfer to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee this fall after the “Wizard of Oz” run.
She was thrilled to get the part after submitting a callback video in April.
“There’s something very unique about this girl, very special,” director Tony Parise said at Circa on Friday, July 10, before their formal opening night. “I don’t like traditional casting. I like something interesting and she was. She sings great and she has a very interesting quality that’s not your basic, stock Dorothy.”
Jeremy Littlejohn,left, Bobby Becher, Brad Hauskins, Adam Cerny, and Sophie Kaegi in “The Wizard of Oz,” running through Sept. 5 at Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, Rock Island.
“I think the story is so familiar to everybody, if a 50-year-old man put on the pigtails and blue gingham dress, people would say, ‘yeah, that’s the Wizard of Oz.”
Parise directed the classic show at Circa in 2003, but it didn’t have the technological advancements that today’s version does, including use of projections (done in part with green screen) for the Wizard. “I’m excited to revisit it 23 years later,” he said.
On top of the phenomenon of 2003’s hit “Oz” prequel, “Wicked” (and its two big film adaptations), “the iconography of the Yellow Brick Road and the Wicked Witch, there’s so much that’s in the culture, it’s referenced every day,” Parise said.
Adam Cerny and Sophie Kaegi in Circa’s “Wizard of Oz.”
His same set from 2003 is based on a spiral ramp, from which everything flows, and the special effects are done theatrically, including the tornado and landing of the house, reflecting the change in the 1939 film from black and white to color, to on stage changing from sepia-toned costumes and lighting to bright Technicolor Oz through different costumes and lights.
“There’s a whole lot of practical and magical effects happening on stage,” Becher said. “If you are expecting magic, as you would do, you won’t be disappointed by those elements…It is very technologically advanced in many ways.”
In 2003, the Wizard’s face was created by a giant balloon that blew up out of a trap door with a scary face on it, Parise said. “And actually Joanne, our dog trainer, was on the tech crew. And she reminded me that she’s the one who was down making the balloon shake every night. And she said, and you would give me notes, shake it more, move it more. So we’re now past a balloon with a face.”’
The show auditions included a call for dogs to play Toto, and two were chosen – one an iconic terrier named Faye, and the other a Shih Tzu named Bruno, “who’s adorable but not the typical Toto,” Parise said. “I mean, he really tries to be a calm terrier.”
“Joanne from Rock Island, she worked with the dogs and the owners, of course, and Sophie and a couple of other people that handle the dogs. And she’s gotten them to come on stage all by themselves,” he said. “So that’s cool.”
A new experience at Circa
Kaegi is in her first show since “Paranormal Activity” last fall, and she was in a “Wizard of Oz” as a kid in Palatine, a member of the Lullaby League, with her mom playing Aunt Em and her sister as the mayor. Her mom reprised her role in Sophie’s audition video reading for Circa.
“I loved the movie. I would watch it all the time going up to La Crosse because my mom’s from La Crosse, Wisconsin. And that was like one of the three movies we would watch,” Kaegi recalled. “And I was Dorothy for Halloween once.”
“I just loved her to begin with, and it’s crazy how much the script is like the movie,” she said Friday.
Kaegi identifies with Dorothy, the restless girl who longs to leave what she feels is a drab, dull existence and she certainly finds a colorful adventure, but comes to realize how good she had it at home.
Sophie Kaegi, left, and Gillian Weatherford in Circa ’21’s new “The Wizard Oz.”
“Just the way that she has such a vibrant imagination, it definitely was like that as like a kid growing up,” she said. “Now, at the end of this show, the part where like everything is more real is like when I say goodbye to the friends. And Tony, the director, obviously did a great job at making it so real that at the end we’re all like basically in tears.”
Dorothy’s farewell scene with her road compatriots is always deeply moving, and Parise’s favorite line when the Wizard bestows honors on the three is to Tin Man – “A heart is not judged by how much you love, but how much you are loved by others.”
Kaegi said Dorothy learns that she also has the three priceless gifts the trio seek – heart, brains and courage.
“She finds, well, the courage to finally realize that what she had was beautiful to begin with. That she didn’t need to run away because people didn’t understand her,” the actress said. “That it was always there. She learns to appreciate what you have.”
Being new to Circa, Kaegi was overwhelmed to start rehearsals virtually all memorized, and then just nine day-long rehearsals before opening to an audience for previews. Becher said she merged seamlessly with the process.
Adam Cerny, left, Sophie Kaegi, Jeremy Littlejohn, and Bobby Becher in the new “Wizard of Oz.”
“There’s always a range of experience in every regard, but the speed of the rehearsal process is definitely something that takes some time to get used to in many different ways,” he said. “I hope that those of us that were more used to that process were able to help those who weren’t, but it’s not like anybody was like weighing us down or anything like that.”
Compared to Kaegi’s last lead role, in “Annie,” that was a much longer rehearsal process, and the role was double cast.
“I don’t even think I remembered how much work it is to play such a heavy role because like, I don’t know, as a child, as a 14-year-old, I was just like, oh yeah, let’s go,” she said.
Becher said “Oz” comes freighted with audience expectations, given its hold in the culture.
“There are a lot of expectations that come with doing a show like this where people are going to be coming in here and some are going to be wanting to see Judy Garland and some are wanting to see not that,” he said of the original Dorothy. “And how can you please everybody at the same time? That puts a lot of pressure onto you and everyone, like the Witch and the Lion and the Scarecrow, and like, how can you be exactly what everybody wants in something like this? And you just have to release that. And just understand that we are doing our version of this, and we are ourselves, and putting something new into this.”
Kaegi’s acting roles include playing a kid on the TV series “Chicago PD” when she was 7, and she still gets residual checks.
“It’s crazy how long it takes to film one scene,” she said. “I was there for basically 12 hours and it was just one scene. It’s crazy how much work they put into it and how much time it takes.”
Parise said he gets $13 a year from performing in the ensemble in the Broadway original cast recording of “42nd Street,” which was released in 1980.
A bucket-list role
A Circa veteran, Becher has never done the show before and Tin Man is a bucket-list role for him. He loves these old-fashioned, classic musicals.
“It’s one of those iconic roles that everybody wants to do. It’s very nice to get to do this with these people,” he said. “With Jeremy and Adam and Sophie, they are very believable as these parts, while still having something unique about them. They put their own spin on things which is just right.”
Becher, Cerny and Littlejohn have their makeup transformation into Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion down fast.
“We get it on our faces because in the show it is pretty quick,” Becher said. “There are other duties that we have to fulfill before we change into the iconic makeup characters,” he said, noting the same actors play the farmhands in the opening scene, who return at the very end.
“We’ve only really been doing full makeup and stuff the past few days, but just every day you get a little more efficient and we help each other out. We’re zipping each other up and spraying each other and turning the fan on each other in there,” Becher said. “It’s just like anything else in the theaters, everybody’s working together.”
Jeremy Littlejohn,left, Bobby Becher, Brad Hauskins, Adam Cerny, and Sophie Kaegi in “The Wizard of Oz,” running through Sept. 5 at Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, Rock Island.
Rounding out the Circa cast are Nathan Ancheta, Croix Baker, Topher Elliott, Hannah Marie Felver, Jakob Innes, Samantha Ferrante, Chloe Schwab and Rachel Winter, with the children’s ensemble including Sofia Alleruzzo, Elizabeth Browne, Marian Driscoll, Brighton Greim, Fulton Young and Olivia Young.
“The Wizard of Oz” will be presented through Sept. 5 with performances on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday matinées at 1:15 p.m. Pre-show entertainment featuring the theatre’s wait staff the Bootleggers will also precede all performances. Ticket prices are $70 for the Friday – Sunday productions and $63 for the Wednesday productions. Reduced prices for students, seniors and groups of 12 or more are also available.
The theater is also offering a special show only matinee on Saturday, August 1st. Tickets are $45 for adults and $25 for children 18 and under.
Reservations are available through the Circa ’21 ticket office at 1828 3rd Ave., Rock Island or by calling 309-786-7733 ext. 2. Online reservations can be made at circa21.com.
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