St. Luke’s Theatre is going over the rainbow with this year’s peformance of “The Wizard of Oz.” The show opens on Nov. 8 with a 7 p.m. peformance at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 515 S. 312th St. in Federal Way.
This version of “The Wizard of Oz” is a comedy, originally adapted for performance by local comedic writers Greg Gamble and Lee Howard for St. Luke’s summer theater day camp.
The comedic version includes dozens of peformers, including all your favorite characters — along with a few you may not know: “Its parody, satire and abstract nonsense will leave you in stitches,” the show’s description promises.
“It’s taking a story that we all know and love, and keeping the parts we know and love, but just amping it up in a comedic level,” said Loretta Deranleau Howard, director of the show.
The show will run through Sunday, Nov. 17, with 7 p.m. performances on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. performances on Saturdays and Sundays.
St. Luke’s Theatre holds open auditions for their shows each year and consistently draws actors from all over the region, not just from within the St. Luke’s congregation.
This year is no different, and actor Carolyn Hastings drives to Federal Way from Bothell for her rehearsals for the role of Glinda.
Although she is enjoying the role of Glinda very much, she said she would have been happy with any role because the show is special to her for a different reason.
“I said I’ll be in the ensemble if I could just get on stage with my kid,” Hastings said. “He just graduated from high school so before he finishes his college years and we never have this chance again.”
Seeing him on stage, “I just explode with pride…watching him grow and then him wanting to be in a show with me is fantastic,” she said.
Hastings’ son Hendrik Smies is playing multiple roles in the show this year.
Aside from the fun of getting to play Glinda and be in a production with her son, Hastings said she really enjoys watching other rehearsals.
“I’m also this huge sap, and kids singing will actually set me off with like tears in my eyes,” Hastings said, adding that especially the main munchkin is “so cute I can’t even stand it,” especially when “she starts coming across with her little scroll and singing her little song.”
In general, Hastings said she’s enjoying the show because of the comedic elements and more.
“I mean, I thought it would be fun to be in a show with my son and everything, but it’s even more fun than I thought it would be. It’s super fun to be Glinda,” Hastings said.
Hastings has been in a few other performances at St. Luke’s including a role in David Austin’s “A Christmas Carol” and has twice been in “Oliver.”
“Here is what we call a theater home, just a place where everybody kind of knows you and they’ve always been so welcoming,” Hastings said.
She’s also been involved in community theater most of her life and has even performed internationally.
“It’s funny how much all the warmups are the same,” she said of getting to perform with some other English-speaking expats in the Hague.
Outside of the theater, Hastings also does Crossfit (and can bench 310 pounds) and is a software engineer.
The mom and son are not even the only family with multiple members in the performance. The actor playing the scarecrow has two daughters in the show, and there’s a family of five and four sisters who are all involved.
The show is family friendly in more ways as well, with shows chosen for positive stories and values. The production team also works hard to make sure actors are only called to rehearsal when they have to be and make sure to provide flexibility for other commitments, like family needs.
“It’s valuable for people to know when they need to be here,” Deranleau Howard said. She added that “because we’re not in the professional theater realm — we have all volunteer actors who previously have worked at professional houses — some of them just don’t want that grind anymore, but we’re not paying them, so we have to allow people to have conflicts in real life…and they love the fact that we allow that and we work around it.”
A live band will provide the music for the show, led by Music Director Aimee Hong, who got her start at a St. Luke’s summer camp.
Tickets cost $10 each. They can be purchased ahead of time on St Luke’s website at https://stlukes-church.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2559333.
Carolyn Hastings will be playing Glinda in the upcoming performance of “The Wizard of Oz.” Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror
With only two weeks left until the performance, munchkin actors practice a group dance for St. Luke’s upcoming production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror
Actors run a scene, blocking out where they will move on stage for the upcoming production of “The Wizard of Oz” by St. Luke’s Theatre in Federal Way. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror
The cowardly lion is attended to in the Emerald City in a 2015 production of “The Wizard of Oz” by St. Luke’s Theatre. Photo by Jim Chase, provided by St. Luke’s Theatre.
