On a recent night in Amherst, an angry woman dressed in black flew through the air on a broomstick while a crowd applauded her every time she left the stage. Another woman gracefully descended into the crowd from the sky, carrying a wand and wearing a glittery pink skirt. A group of children learned a dance named after a scary insect.
These fantastical sights weren’t a dream, but a glimpse behind the curtain at a recent partial dress rehearsal for Amherst Community Theater’s 2025 production, “The Wizard of Oz.” Bringing L. Frank Baum’s world to life, the cast and crew are preparing for an eight-show run at Bowker Auditorium at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from Thursday, Jan. 15 through Sunday, Jan. 25.
The show, based on the 1939 movie inspired by L. Frank Baum’s classic novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” is about a girl from Kansas, Dorothy Gale, who finds herself in the magical land of Oz after a tornado picks up her house and drops it on an evil witch. As she tries to find the Wizard of Oz to ask him to help her get home, she meets new friends along the way, including the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. This production features the familiar classic musical numbers from the original movie, including “Over the Rainbow,” “We’re Off to See the Wizard,” and “If I Only Had a Brain.”
Director Stephanie Flinker said the production will be “a fresh look at a beloved classic.”
“The iconic story will be one that I hope lovers of The Wizard Oz will enjoy for its new nuances,” she said. “And I hope younger audiences, who have yet to experience Dorothy’s journey, will be able to delight in our fresh, joyous retelling that brings the magic of the tale to a new generation.”
This is actually Amherst Community Theater’s third time producing “The Wizard of Oz,” as the last two productions were in 2004 and 2011. Assistant Director Barbara Pistrangsaid said that the choice to put it on this year was because the show is high-quality, family-friendly, and has plenty of roles for adults and children, plus enough time had passed since the last show — enough time that some of its cast members weren’t even born yet. Of course, she said, the popularity of “Wicked” also helped.
In fact, Flinker wanted the “Wicked” movies to inform the show — for audiences to “feel the anger and anguish of the Wicked Witch in a new way, along with Dorothy’s strength and courage to stand up for what is right.”
“Audience members shouldn’t look on stage for a recreation of Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Burt Lahr, Billie Burke or Margaret Hamilton, but instead look for where we embrace the spirit of the original stories along with these iconic characters in our own unique way,” Flinker said.
Though the core of the show remains the same as that of the classic film, there are some moments and characters that will be new to audience members who have seen the original movie but not read the “Oz” books. One is the Jitterbug, a character (played by Milo Bezark in this production) whose sting makes people dance to the point of exhaustion, which gives its name to a subsequent song and dance sequence as well.
Bezark also played one of the unsavory Delancey brothers in Amherst Community Theater’s 2025 production, “Newsies.”
“It felt like ‘Newsies’ had a serious attention to detail, intentionality and historical accuracy, whereas ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is playful, lighthearted and generally a grand old romp of a time,” Bezark said.
However, they aren’t the only “Newsies” actor returning this year: Chris Okerberg, who played the villain Joseph Pulitzer in that show, is in “The Wizard of Oz” as the Guard to the Emerald City, a tornado and the voice of Toto.
For Okerberg, acting in this show isn’t just a fun pastime — it’s a family affair. Okerberg and his wife, Cara Brostrom, are actors in this show, as are their daughters Scout and Evelyn Okerberg. Last year, Brostrom sewed costumes and photographed the production, and Evelyn played the newsie Skip.
Being in a production with his family is very special, Okerberg said.
“Cara and I met in the theater in college many years ago, so sharing the stage with our children somehow feels like we have come full circle,” he said. “The kids are doing such a great job, and I am so proud of them. It’s great for the kids to get to know a community of people.”
“It’s really fun because we get to be together. It is neat to get to see each other acting. It’s a neat experience,” Scout Okerberg said.
“Our family saw ‘Wicked’ in the theater, and computer-generated worlds on screen almost feel commonplace and average now,” Brostrom said. “In a community theater, we have an opportunity to share what we can make with our hands, our movements, our voices, and the creativity of a community together. An imaginary world — hand-painted, hand-sewn, and performed live by our neighbors, coworkers, friends — feels novel again.”
Chris Okerberg said he likes working with Amherst Community Theater because the company is a warm and welcoming group.
“It is clear that everyone is dedicated to the craft of theater,” he said. “I have made quite a few friends in the Amherst Community Theater. It feels like a real celebration of the best parts of being a human to be in a show and watch the younger cast members participate in this ancient art form.”
Cast member Dave DiLorenzo, who plays the Cowardly Lion and the farmhand Zeke, is a first-timer at Amherst Community Theater, but he, like Okerberg, appreciates “being part of a big group of dedicated people who put all this time and effort in, just for the sake of art and community,” he said.
It is indeed a big group of dedicated people: the cast features 60 actors who range from elementary school-aged kids to adults in their 70s, and the volunteer work required to support the cast is even bigger.
For every production, Amherst Community Theater requires each cast member to “donate” at least eight hours of what they call “mandatory support activities,” which can be contributed by the cast member themselves, a friend or a family member.
A crew of more than 100 volunteers helped designer Peter Flinker, who is the husband of Director Stephanie Flinker, and technical set builder David Mullins put the set together. More than 50 volunteers helped costume designer Carol Parrish and production milliner Ann Steinhauser create the costumes and headpieces for the show.
Their efforts, Stephanie Flinker said, “should make this a show no one will forget.”
Amherst Community Theater will present “The Wizard of Oz” Thursday, Jan. 15-Sunday, Jan. 18 and Thursday, Jan. 22-Sunday, Jan. 25.
To learn more about showtimes, buy tickets or for more information about Amherst Community Theater, visit amherstacts.org.
