Theater Classes to Perform ‘Wizard of Oz’ on Nov. 17 for Area Children

Associate Professor of Communication Susan Minton is surrounded in her office by
costumes and props for the production of The Wizard of Oz. The public performance
will be at 7 p.m. CT on Nov. 17 in V.P. Henry Auditorium.

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- For the last 20 years, Lindsey Wilson College Associate Professor of Communication Susan Minton has produced plays that have entertained thousands of area school children.

That tradition continues on Nov. 15-17 when her theater classes perform an adaptation of the children's classic The Wizard of Oz. The play will be produced Nov. 15-17 in Adair County schools, and then a public performance will be given at 7 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Nov. 17, in the Lindsey Wilson V.P. Henry Auditorium.

The Nov. 17 performance is free and open to the public.

This year's production features 44 Lindsey Wilson students, all of whom have a speaking role in the play.

"This is about the application of theater to the real world," Minton said. "It isn't something they just do for a class for credit."

To accommodate the large number of students, Minton added a few scenes and characters to the L. Frank Baum children's classic. While directing the play, Minton said she has noticed how her students have "rediscovered their childhoods."

"It affords my students a chance to go back and discover their inner-child in them," she said.

In addition to performing in the play, Lindsey Wilson students have also created and built the props and costumes, which has transformed Minton's office into a makeshift theater supply closet.

For some of the region's school children, the LWC production of The Wizard of Oz will be the first time they have seen a live performance.

"It offers an escape for young and old -- an escape from reality," Minton said. "It stimulates the imagination -- and it teaches real-life lessons."

Lindsey Wilson College theater class students will perform The Wizard of Oz at 7 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Nov. 17, in the Lindsey Wilson V.P. Henry Auditorium. For more information about the performance -- which is free and open to the public -- contact Susan Minton at mintons@lindsey.edu or (270) 384-8141.