St Margaret’s-McTernan Students Present An Old Favorite With A New Twist

Waterbury — This week, students at St Margaret’s-McTernan School are taking the classic show, Royal Shakespeare version of The Wizard of Oz, and putting it on stage with a few of their own timely changes. The ambitious show includes more than 55 people on stage, including students from the lower, middle, and upper school, plus 15 to 20 faculty members.

“The show has tremendous scope,” said senior Nathan Luce of Waterbury. Nathan is the Hunk and the Scarecrow in this production. “It was a challenge to compete with the most loved movie of all times. We had to do either an imitation of the characters or find a new angle. We explored the kinds of trends that the characters might follow through on,” he said.

Lorna Mulvaney of Chesire, who plays Dorothy, has done extensive theater work outside of school. Tin Man and Hickory, Jon Michaud of Prospect, has done a theater production almost every year since attending St Margaret’s-McTernan. Other cast members include Emily DiNova of Middlebury as Aunt Em and Glinda, Matt Monagan as Uncle Henry, and Christine Seraphin of Waterbury as the Lion. Lia Albini of Middlebury will play Miss Gulch and the Wicked Witch and Luther Pagenge of Litchfield as Professor and Oz.

Not only is the cast adding their creative energy and subtle changes to the script, but each performance offers special features, such as a character brunch, a sing-along, and other activities that are sure to delight audiences.

Performances are May 5–7. Tickets are $15 for each performance, or $30 for dinner and theater on May 6. For tickets call the box office at 236-9545 or email rcutrofello@smmct.org.