NEWS photo Brad Lodwiige

LEON Willey’s Scarecrow and Aurora Reale’s Wicked Witch play around during rehearsals for The Wizard of
Oz. The Uncle Randy Production of the time-honoured classic premieres this evening at Centennial Theatre.

Wi The Wizard of Os, Nov.5-
14 at Centennial Theatre —
Layne Christenson

News Reporter
layne@nsnews.com
CHELSEA Réad has
some pretty big shoes to

the phone from home follow-

- ing rehearsal Tuesday.

Still, she says: “I wanted to
bring part of me to the role.”
When comparing her perfor-
mance to Garland’s she adds:
“I think Pm a little bit more,
not modern but...” Struggling
to find the right word, she set-
tles on “happy.”

._-Richard Berg is director of
Uncle Randy Productions, pro-

<. ducers of The Wisard of Oz as

I be’ stepping in
the srolé of Dorothy, made

~ famous by Judy Garland in the’,

1939 film classic.

‘But that doesn’t seem ‘to.
try Read; who at 17 is

already a veteran of three musi-

~ cal-theatre productions and has .

" been dancing ‘since the age of

““, She’s a fan of Garland’s per-

: formance. “Infact, her family
“has the video, which she says is
“one of her favourites. “You can

well as. last year’s hit show

Godspell. He says it would be a
mistake for Read to try .and

id I really encouraged
her not ta. try to pretend to
be,” . says Berg, _ before
Wednesday’s. preview perfor-
mance.

The Dorothy Chelsea plays

‘is “a little wiser, a little more
Streetsmarr,”: says Berg.

“The transition that our

~ Dorothy makes is rather than

from being naive to being
knowledgeable, which J think is
the ‘movie journey, she goes
from being a doubter to being
a believer,” he explains.

- Read plays Dorothy as “a

“¢ynical young, girl who. thinks

there’s nothing out there (tor
her) and by the end of the
show she knows that there is.”

Berg had suggested that
Read audition for the role of
Dorothy. The pair had worked
together last summer on West
Side Story for Theatre Under
the Stars at Stanley Park's
Malkin Bowl. Read had a non-
singing role, that of the tom-
boy Anybodys.

Before knowing whether his
young star could sing, Berg
knew Read would be right for
the part. “The key to her being
in (the show) was that she has a
real charisma and energy,” says

+ Berg. “There is a realness about
_her.”

As for the young fer-
former’s rendition of
Somewhere Over. the Rainbow,
Berg says Read delivers the
goods.
“It’s a song about good
dreams and good things,” says
Berg. “Rather than it being a
sad song,” as Judy Garland per-
formed it, Read gives it more of
an upbeat tone. “And I think it
will make the audience happier
to listen to it.”

The Wizard of Oz also stars
Fred Galloway as the Lion,
Aurora Reale as the Wicked
Witch, Leon Willey as the

Scarecrow and Chris Thornley
as the Tin Man. Weatherman
Phil Reimer makes his onstage
debut as the great Wizard of
Oz.

Tickets are $25 for adults,
$21 for students and seniors
and $17 for children for the 2
p.m. matinee and 7:30 p.m.
shows. Box office: 984-4484,

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Friday, November 5, 1999 — North Shore News — 23

“er
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