Equipped with plenty of heart, wit and courage, Studio Tenn Theatre Company will travel to Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center and transform it into an opulent Emerald City for its season finale production of “The Wizard of Oz,” live on stage June 13-14, 2015.
Sure to enchant audiences of all ages, this lavishly staged and costumed production backed by a full symphony orchestra will take place Saturday, June 13 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, June 14 at 2:00 p.m., plus a newly added performance at 7:00 p.m. For tickets, visit StudioTenn.com or call the Schermerhorn Box Office at (615) 687-6400.
For the starring role of Dorothy, Studio Tenn has tapped Broadway’s Diana DeGarmo, who rose to fame as the runner-up on American Idol in 2004. Since that debut, she has starred in “Hairspray” and “Hair” on Broadway. Recently, she co-starred in a national touring production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” alongside her husband and fellow American Idol veteran, Ace Young.
“I’m so excited to be working with Studio Tenn in what is shaping up to be a truly magnificent theatre experience,” said DeGarmo. “It is a thrill to take on the iconic role of Dorothy in such an imaginative, innovative production in my own hometown.”
Studio Tenn’s Artistic Director Matt Logan said, “‘The Wizard of Oz’ is, in a word, magical.”Based on Frank L. Baum’s fantasy children’s books published in 1900, “The Wizard of Oz” has been adapted numerous times throughout the 20th century, both for stage and screen. However, the 1939 Technicolor film version has captured the hearts and imaginations of generations of audiences like never before. Following its 1956 television debut, it became one of the most-watched films in history and its fate was sealed as a permanent fixture in pop culture.
While the iconic film’s influence will certainly be felt, Logan assures that Studio Tenn’s “Wizard” will be far from a mere rerun. “We want to pay homage to where this classic story has been and what it has looked like in the past, but at the same time, we feel the best, most genuine way to honor its spirit of imagination is to unleash our own,” Logan said.
As a rule, the company’s innovative interpretations of classic theatre titles are anything but cookie-cutter. “At Studio Tenn, we don’t make copies, and we don’t serve up leftovers,” Logan said. “We believe that our audience deserves more, and that the pieces we take on deserve a fresh perspective. We start with the source material, and we invite other adaptations and derivations to inspire our work, but never to dictate it.”
Managing Director Jake Speck explains that this approach is central to Studio Tenn’s mission to use a rich combination of talent from Nashville and Broadway to bring classic works of drama and musical theatre to life in Middle Tennessee. “It is a dream come true for us to create live theatre of this caliber and this scale right here in our own backyard,” said Speck. “There truly is no place like home.”
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