Dorothy, now a teenager, reluctantly accompanies her eccentric Uncle Henry on a voyage to Australia where he hopes to have just one great adventure. When Dorothy is washed overboard, she lands on the shore near the Land of Oz where she meets the yellow hen Billena, a mechanical man who controls time, and the powerful Princess Ozma of Oz. They team up to defeat the Nome King, rescue Uncle Henry, and reconcile Dorothy with her intrepid uncle. Adapted from the third book in L. Frank Baum’s series, this steampunk re-envisioning of the classic story will engage audiences young and old.
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Director Production Stage Manager Costume Design Hair & Makeup Design Fight Choreographer Production Assistant
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Producer Scenic Design Lighting Design Composer Assistant Director Dialects Coach
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Dorothy TikTok Ozma Army
Wheeler/ |
Uncle Henry Billina General Princess King Roquat Wheeler/ |
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Assistant Stage Managers Deck Hands Dressers HMU Technicians Sound Board Operator Crew Swing, Crew Swing, |
Props Master Wardrobe Supervisor HMU supervisor
Crew Swing |
What a pleasure it has been to direct this adaptation by Suzan Zeder, one of my favorite playwrights, of a book by one of my favorite authors, L. Frank Baum, with these wonderful UVU students!
Baum had been a stage actor and playwright before he wrote books for children. When The Wonderful Wizard of Oz became a best seller, Baum wrote a 1904 stage adaptation that children would have loved. However, by the time the editors and producers reworked it, the show was only suitable for adults. The author wrote a sequel to The Wizard of Oz with an eye to adapting it to the stage, but when its adaptation flopped, Baum wrote a third Oz book, Ozma of Oz, and focused only on how the story would read for children, and not on how it would play for adults. It was left to a modern dramatist like Suzan Zeder to illuminate the story’s themes, while taking some liberties with the plot, in ways that respect the realities and imaginations of children.
MGM’s 1939 film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz was much truer to the original than its first stage version had been. Still, readers of the book lament that the Hollywood movie made Oz a land that existed only in Dorothy’s imagination. When I was performing my solo play about L Frank Baum in upstate New York, a radio interviewer told me that as a child, she didn’t see Oz as Dorothy’s re-envisioning of the people she knew in Kansas, Rather, she saw Oz as the land Dorothy visited that allowed her to see the magic in those she knew back at home. I have borrowed MGM’s frame story approach and the interviewer’s interpretation and woven them into UVU’s production of Ozma of Oz.
Baum’s cleverness, daring, and humor are brilliantly illuminated by the script, and we hope we have made them resonate through our stagecraft and performances. Like Dorothy and her uncle, we hope that audiences young and old will enjoy this adventure together.
- Dr. John Newman
As we prepare to welcome the community to experience the wonder at The Noorda, I’d like to thank you for making it all possible.
The performing arts inspire us to engage with others, discover new ways of thinking and feeling, and provides us with hope—in short, we believe the arts transform you. As an exciting hub for the arts in Utah County, we produce hundreds of performances by talented students, faculty, and world-renowned visiting artists. We invite everyone to join in connecting through the arts.
As part of UVU’s inaugural EverGREEN fundraising campaign, I invite you to make a gift to UVU’s Noorda Center for the Performing Arts today.
Your gift impacts not only students, but everyone who comes to The Noorda by ensuring programming and exciting artistic creation continues.
Please make a gift today by clicking below. Thank you!
Erin Bjorn
Costume Designer
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Braden Clement
Uncle Henry
Braden is a junior at UVU studying musical theatre. He’s extremely grateful to be a part of this production and to work with such an amazing cast and creative team. He’d like to thank his incredible family for their support, as well as his brilliant mentors here at UVU over the years. Enjoy the show.
Keller-Lee Cummings
General
Keller-Lee is a junior in the Acting BFA at UVU, and is so grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of this show. She is so excited to be a part of this exceptional cast, and even more excited to wear a cape. She was previously seen as Alfred in TAG’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead. Instagram: keller.lee_
Abby FIllmore
Army
Abby is excited to perform this fun show for all of you here at UVU! Abby is in her senior year here at the University in the BFA Musical Theatre program. Some of her past credits include Hello Girls with HCTO, Sister Act with HCTO, Arsenic and old lace with PG players and Bright Star with LAC. She is excited for all of you to join in on this fun adventure with the cast of Ozma of Oz, enjoy!
Ethan Freestone
Roquat
Ethan Freestone is a Junior in UVU’s BFA Acting program. He’s addicted to performing, thinks his fellow performers are everything to him, and when not on stage he is often spotted eating copious amounts of shredded cheese. Recent appearances at UVU: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead as Guildenstern, Gin Mummy as Old Hans, and The Diary of Anne Frank as Mr. Van Dann. Upcoming shows: A Christmas Carol at the Hale Center Theatre at Sandy.
Marissa Haines
Ozma
Marissa is excited to be performing in her third show here at UVU! Recent credits include In Good Faith (UVU), Madeleine in The Divine (UVU), and performing on tour with Disney Cruise Line. She would like to thank her family and friends for supporting her dreams. Enjoy the show! Instagram: @marissalhaines
Mikenzie McIntyre
Wheeler/Nome/Dorothy US
Mikenzie is over the moon to be apart of this production! This is her first show at UVU. Previous roles include Zaneeta Shinn in The Music Man and Billy in Kid Turboni Brings The Rain. If she’s not onstage, you can catch her eating pickles and drinking the pickle juice out of her special pickle jar! Also, her least favorite species of lettuce is arugula. She’d like to thank her best friend and her sister! Enjoy this magical show!
Hayden Mecham
TikTok
Hayden is so happy to be returning to the UVU stage in Ozma of Oz! He is currently a Sophomore pursuing a BFA in Musical Theatre. Favorite credits: Into the Woods (UVU, Jack); Spring Awakening (Hart Theatre Co., Ernst); Cabaret (Center for the Arts at Kayenta, Texas); Something Rotten! (The Stage Door, Ensemble). When he isn’t rehearsing or in class, he enjoys spending time with his (3) cats and beating his roommates in Super Smash Bros. Much love and thanks to his family and friends.
Ian Morgan
Wheeler/Nome/Male Swing
Ian Morgan is a sophomore in the BFA Musical Theatre program. He cannot be more excited about this production because this is his debut at UVU! Ian comes from a primarily choral background, and in 2022 he was a part of the Nauvoo Performing Missionaries. Since then, Ian has shifted his focus from choral music to theater. He hopes that you enjoy all of his Wheeler/Nome/Male Swing shenanigans!
Rachel Naylor
Nanda/Feldspar
Rachel is excited to enter into her senior year here at UVU and make a hasty return to the stage. Last semester she played Jack's Mother in Into the Woods here at UVU, and danced and sang in the rain at the Scera Shell last summer. She now welcomes you to the magical land of Oz, and hopes you enjoy the show!
Dr. John Newman
Director
Dr. John Newman is a Professor of Theatre at Utah Valley University, Director of UVU’s Theatre for Youth & Education (TYE) Center, and Coordinator of the BS Theatre Education degree. He is the author of Playwriting in Schools: Dramatic Navigation, which received the 2020 AATE Distinguished Book Award. Dr. Newman has published plays with Dramatic Publishing, YouthPLAYS, Eldridge, and Leicester Bay Theatricals and regularly performs his solo play The Man Behind the Curtain about The Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum.
Fiorella Pulido
Princess Langwidere
Fio is currently a junior pursuing a BFA in Musical Theater and a minor in French. She is so excited to be a part of UVU’s production of Ozma of Oz this fall. Earlier this year, she performed in HCTO’s How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. She was recently seen in WVPAC’s stage as Pilar in Legally Blonde. She would like to thank her friends and family for the endless love and support.
Hailey Robertson
Hair and Makeup Designer
Hailey has been doing theatre for over five years. They currently go to UVU as a student and are planning on getting her BFA in Theatre: Design and Production with an emphasis in Costume Design. They have worked in multiple areas of theatre such as set, costumes, makeup, stage crew, and venue specialist/ planner. They enjoy all of the arts with hobbies of all the creative kind!
Ele Rose
Stage Manager
Ele is a Senior Theater Design major here at UVU. They have been delighted to be involved in the Ozma of Oz as their senior project. Working with Dr. Newman and this cast in the rehearsal room has been a phenominal experience. Other productions Ele has been involved in at UVU include: Into the Woods, Is There an Actor in the House?, and Romeo + Juliet. You can also see more of Ele's work this Febuary in a Caberet directed by Jennifer Delac.
Collin Schmeirer
Lighting Designer
Recent UVU credits for Collin include the Lighting Design for Lucky Stiff, Gin Mummy, and Romeo and Juliet. He works as Hale Centre Theatre Sandy’s full-time Lighting programmer. Recent designs include Seussical, world Premier of Beetle Juice Jr., Matilda, and She Loves Me.
Hanna Schneck
Composer/Billina
Hanna is a junior in UVU's Musical Theatre BFA. She loved the Oz books as a kid and has enjoyed getting to interact with it again in this new way. Some favorite roles include: Annabeth (The Lightning Thief at WVArts), Emma Carew (Jekyll and Hyde), Belle/Fred’s Wife/Christmas Future (A Christmas Carol HCTO), Estelle (Guide Me Home), Jane Fairfax (Emma HCTO), Narrator (Joseph…Dreamcoat), Witch (Into the Woods), Janet van de Graaff (The Drowsy Chaperone). A big thanks to this wonderful cast and pro team. Lots of love to her family and friends for all of their support!
Genesie Smith
Assistant Director
This is Genesie's first mainstage show at UVU. She's enjoyed watching the actors develop their characters and being a part of creating this magical show!
Mackenzie Turner
Dorothy
Kenzie’s first musical EVER was Wizard of Oz where she played Dorothy, so stepping back into the role 15 years later is a full circle moment. Going into her senior year as a BFA Musical Theater major, she’s powered by diet Dr Pepper and would give her life for the arts (hopefully not literally). Thank you for being here and keeping theater alive! <3
Melanie Velasco
Assistant Stage Manager
Melanie is in her second year at UVU and her second show as an assistant stage manager. Working with this cast, Ele, and Dr. Newman has been a great learning experience and Melanie is proud of how far they have all come. Her next project being Little Women, directed by Laurie Harrop-Purser. With hopefully more to come, she is excited for whatever the future holds.
Jo Winiarski
Set Designer
Jo’s Off-Broadway credits include The Fears, HYPROV, Accidentally Brave, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, and Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Regional design credits include Pioneer Theatre; The Guthrie Theater; Arizona Theatre Company; Utah Shakespeare Festival (49 shows); The Old Globe; Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Dallas Theater Center; and Geva Theatre Center. Additional credits include Wishes for Disney Cruise Line. Jo was the art director on Late Night with Seth Meyers (episodes 1-844) and received an Emmy nomination for art direction for A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All.
The arts possess the sublime power to inspire, engage, and transform. Just as a solitary note holds the ability to captivate, a single voice, gesture, or melody possesses the ineffable power to carry us away.
We invite you to embark upon a new journey with us this season at The Noorda Center—home to inspiring events and an exciting hub for the arts in Utah County. Our mission is to produce and present artistic excellence, which would not be possible without the generous support of our donors and sponsors. We thank them and express our deep gratitude to all patrons, supporters, and friends of The Noorda Center.
Thank you for journeying with us this season to experience the profound and transformative power of the arts! —Courtney R. Davis, Dean, School of the Arts
Courtney R. Davis, J.D., M.A.
Dean, School of the Arts
Chair, Associate Professor
LA BEENE, MFA
Associate Chair, Associate Professor
JULIE HEATON, MFA
Administrative Assistant
CURTIS CLUFF, MFA
Associate Professor
AMANDA CRABB, MM
Assistant Professor
JENNIFER DELAC, MFA
Lecturer
ELIZABETH GOLDEN, MFA
Lecturer
M. CHASE GRANT, MFA
Professor
LISA HALL, PHD
Professor
LAURIE HARROP-PURSER, MFA
Lecturer
SHANNON HUTCHINS, MFA
Assistant Professor
RICHARD LORIG, MFA
Professor
JOHN NEWMAN, PHD
Assistant Professor
STEVEN RIMKE, MFA
Lecturer
GRAHAM WHIPPLE, MFA
