ABOVE: The Wicked Witch, portrayed by Brynn Gustafson (right), threatens Dorothy, played by Abi Peyman (far left), after she finds her wearing the magical ruby red slippers during Monday night’s dress rehearsal of “The Wizard of Oz” at the Performing Arts Center at Fairmont High School. Grace Simpson (middle) plays the role of the Good Witch. Fairmont High School’s play will run Thursday through Saturday, with each performance starting at 7 p.m. Photo by Charlie Sorrells.

FAIRMONT– The community is welcome to follow the yellow brick road to the Performing Arts Center at Fairmont High School where the “The Wizard of Oz” will be showing this week. The musical opens today with a free senior citizen matinee at 12:30 p.m. It will show at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

This year’s fall musical is being directed by high school English teacher, Sara Gudahl, who said that they tend to alternate years between a classic show and something more modern. Last year the show was “Newsies” so this year they opted for something more classic.

“We chose ‘Wizard of Oz” because, with the kids we have, we knew we would have a good fit for our voices and talent and a lot of kids interested. We needed something that would fit a big cast,” Gudahl explained.

The show is open to all students grades 7 through 12 and Gudahl said this year’s has about 120 students in it between the cast and crew.

“It’s up a little from previous years. The program just keeps growing,” Gudahl said.

She said that last year the theater program graduated 30 students, but this year there’s still a core group of students who have been in it for several years, along with a good number of newcomers.

“It’s an exciting year seeing some new faces but also being anchored by kids who are long-timers,” Gudahl said.

She said one student, Abi Peyman, who plays Dorothy, has been in the theater program since her seventh grade year when she played Annie in the titular show.

“It’s kind of a crowning performance for her,” Gudahl said.

Students began rehearsing for the show on Sept. 19. Since then they have been meeting for two or three hours five nights a week. Students have fit in practice for the musical along with other sports and academic activities that they’re involved with, as it runs from about 6:30 to 8:30 or 9 p.m.

While a beloved and well-known show, the challenge with this year’s selection is that it’s highly technical.

“It’s a story that everyone knows but it will go through nine distinct scene changes with a lot of special effects happening along the way,” Gudahl said.

She said that the crew is getting challenged more this year than previous years and as a result, a few extra people have been recruited to help.

Some of the tasks the crew handles range from handling the lighting and spotlights to changing the sets as quickly as possible.

“I also have people in charge of special effects and if you think about “Wizard of Oz,” there’s a tornado and we need to drop a house. We also have a crystal ball and a wizard appearing behind a curtain. All of those scenes have special things that need to happen and people to make them happen,” Gudahl said.

Because of all of the effects, Gudahl said this show may be more expensive than the others. Costume-wise, she compares it to “Beauty and the Beast,” which the school put on several years ago. However, she said they rented costumes for that whereas they’re sourcing costumes for Oz.

Several adults in the community have volunteered to sew and hand-make a number of the costumes for this year’s production, which Gudahl expressed appreciation for.

While there are several versions of “The Wizard of Oz,” Gudahl said they chose the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) version because it’s closest to the film. She said it almost exactly covers the film, but that there is a scene in it that was cut from the original film.

“That’s been a fun add-on for us. It’s a new song and a new number that adds to the story line,” Gudahl said.

Overall, Gudahl expressed thanks for the community involvement and volunteers in the community who have helped make this show a reality and she hopes that the broader community comes out to see the hard work that the students have put in on this year’s production