Head off to see the Wizard

The yellow brick road will lead local residents to Maria Regina School this weekend for the upcoming production of “The Wizard of Oz.” There will be two performances, beginning Friday night. 

In an effort to give more students an opportunity to shine, several roles have been double cast, with one actor performing on Friday, and the other on Saturday. All the actors in double-cast roles will be in the ensemble for their other show. 

Kimberly Purcell, a sixth-grader from Massapequa Park, will play the lead of Dorothy Friday night, with Wantagh’s Gianna Iovino, also a sixth-grader, taking the spotlight for the second show.

Seaford’s James Mamouzelos and Liam Carolan, both seventh-graders, will play the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man, respectively. Eighth-grader Eddie David rounds out the group as the Scarecrow.

“I’m looking forward to entertaining people and making them laugh,” Carolan said.

The Wizard will be played by seventh-grader Nicholas Metro, and his gatekeeper will be sixth-grader Anthony Genovese, of Seaford.

Jordan Mirabile, a seventh-grader from Wantagh, and Brenna Brown, an eighth-gradee, will split the part of the Wicked Witch of the West. Brown takes the first crack at the part, with Mirabile following on Saturday.

Brown said that villains are the most fun parts to play in a show. “You can put it into your own style,” she said. “There’s so many things you can do with the character.”

Glinda, the good witch, also will be portrayed by two students. Sixth-grader Jocelyn Bunster has the part on Friday night, with seventh-grader Grace Mohlin reminding Dorothy that “there’s no place like home” on Saturday. Both girls have been doing plays at Maria Regina since second grade.

“It’s a lot more practicing,” Mohlin said, noting that this is her biggest role to date. “Now I have to focus a lot more at home.”

The two will be playing the parts a little differently, as Bunster said she hopes to work an accent into her dialogue.