SAVAPA follows the Yellow Brick Road
The Southwest Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts is journeying to Emerald City in its production of “The Wizard of Oz,” Feb. 21 through 23.
Every two years, the arts at Southwest come together to perform a musical. Many of the parts combine dancing, acting and singing, so SAVAPA students from any discipline can participate.
The SAVAPA Theater teacher, Chris Spanos; orchestra conductor, Matthew Busse; the SAVAPA Dance teacher, Jessica Brookes; and the SAVAPA Music teacher, Stephen Spataro, are in charge of selecting the musical and the talent pool.
“After choosing the musical, we all consider the talent pool,” said Spanos. “Furthermore, is the musical something that the audience will embrace? Lastly, is it different from our past musicals?”
Preparations for the musical start eight to 10 months in advance.
“We’re finding the director, the title, naming the cast, and organizing audition dates. After winter break, the students have to be off script in rehearsals and they nail everything — they do amazing,” said Spanos.
SAVAPA Music teacher Stephen Spataro is the vocal coach.
“Some of these kids never sang before, so I first teach them how to use their voices, and I teach them their vocal part in the musical,” said Spataro.
Portraying the Wicked Witch of the West is Elizabeth Huerta, 16, who has been in SAVAPA Theater for two years. The first musical she ever saw was SAVAPA’s previous production of “The Wizard of Oz,” so performing in the play feels like coming full circle for her.
“Playing a character like this and being in something like this is a huge privilege. This is my first musical ever, and I’m super excited. I feel like anything I do, I try to make myself better in my character. So I embrace my character by watching snippets of the movie and I try to nail her laugh and her voice,” Huerta said.
“My family actually hasn’t heard the laugh yet because it’s a surprise. I want it to be a secret and I want my family to watch me on stage and be blown away,” said Huerta.
Senior Tyler Williams is portraying Tin Man. and he said that his experience in theater helped him bring out emotions and express himself in new ways and become more confident. But he still has to focus to be the best Tin Man he can be.
“I’m strict on myself and others because if you aren’t focused, you easily get lost so I really just drop everything and make my role my main focus,” said Williams.
Senior Megan Gamez is playing Dorothy Gale. She’s been in theater since her sophomore year, this being her second musical. She played an Oompa Loompa in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
“I definitely get more nervous for a musical because not only do I have to worry about my acting performance, I have to worry about my vocals as well. It’s not so much about memorization, it’s also about how my vocals sound,” said Gamez. “I used to get nervous before plays but now I don’t usually get nervous because I’m super comfortable with the environment,” said Gamez
In addition to acting, singing, and dancing, students run the production from behind the scenes. Madison Audley is a stage technician and student director.
“I take notes during the scenes for our director. I’m more involved in the technical aspects meaning set up of scenes and where the background goes,” said Audley. “You have to be determined to get things done and you have to be very organized.”
SAVAPA’s performances of the “Wizard of Oz” will be held at the Jimmie Cannon Theater for the Performing Arts at Southwest High School.