On Stage Tonight - "The Wizard of Oz"

The Broadway touring production of The Wizard of Oz takes the stage in Huntington tonight, and if you want to see it you'd better hurry - my sources tell me the show is almost sold out!

You can read an excellent preview of the musical right here in a story by my pal Dave Lavender. Here's a sample:

Just when we need it most, there's a tornado blowing through town to whisk us all away to where skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

At least on Tuesday night.

Wednesday, you're back on your own.

At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9, the Marshall Artists Series welcomes in the touring Broadway production of the beloved musical adventure, The Wizard of Oz into the historic Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center.

Tickets are $55, $50 and $45. Youth tickets (17 & under) are $27.50, $25 and $22.50.

Out since Oct. 23, this tour of The Wizard of Oz has been one whirlwind of a musical love fest for one of America's best road-trip stories, said Chris Kind, the Minnesota native who plays the Tin Man.

"I think it is such a universally loved movie and such a universally loved story that it's very strange to come across someone who does not like The Wizard of Oz," Kind said. "It's wonderful to be a part of any production of 'Wizard of Oz,' but this one in particular, it has been something to see the care they took in getting it right and getting the cast together."

The musical follows the stage adaptation of the blockbuster movie, prepared originally for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and includes that stream of sing-a-long songs such as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" and "The Merry Old Land of Oz."

The above photo is courtesy of Joan Marcus, and shows Dorothy and her friends (from left to right: Noah Aberlin, Cassie Okenka, Snickers, Jason Simon, Chris Kind).