“Wizard of Oz” Parent Night

On Wednesday, April 24, the Talawanda Drama Program held their Parent Night for the parents of the cast and crew. Parent Night is an event in which parents along with some teachers, are allowed to come to the show for free and take pictures.

“Parents want to take pictures and videos, and i give them this night to do that, then I discourage it the other nights,” Ryan Steffen, one of the directors, said. He believes that parent night is a night that should be dedicated to the people that are the most important in the kids’ lives, that being the parents and teachers.

Indeed, the opportunity that Parent Night gives parents is not taken for granted.  “When all the younger performers came out all the parent’s cameras came out,” said Cassandra McCartney, the parent of one of the seniors in the show.

The young kids deserved the attention that their parents gave them, too. One such parent was Mark Tincher. “My favorite part of the show was the introduction to munchkin land,” he said. “I thought that was really fun when all the young kids came out and all the other munchkins came out. I really enjoyed that; it was well choreographed. Everything sounded good; I was really pleased.”

But it wasn’t just the kids that made such lasting impressions. While Tincher’s daughter, Scout, was part of the show, he made it clear that she wasn’t the only reason he enjoyed the show. “I thought the cowardly lion was great,” he said. “I loved her portrayal of the character.”

While acting does tend to grab the audience’s attention, it isn’t the only piece of the machine that is a production such as this. “The Oz scene was really cool,” Tincher said. “I loved the face that came down, and the fog machine was really cool.”