SMITHFIELD – The late, great W.C. Fields is reputed to have famously warned actors to “…never work with kids or animals.”
The folks at the Four Seasons Theatre Company seem to have taken that advice to heart about their upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz.
To eliminate the risk of a real live canine running amok during performances of the musical, the essential part of Dorothy’s faithful companion Toto will be played by a puppet.
Under the direction of puppeteer Kaito Davis, Toto will play his part in The Wizard of Oz without everyone having to hold his or her breath in anticipation of some unexpected on-stage disaster.
The last time in memory anyone in the local theater community risked having a real, live dog on-stage was during the 2020 production of Annie by Music Theatre West. The orphan girl’s dog Sandy (played by a sizable service pooch named Flynn) more or less made a cameo appearance on a leash before being escorted into the wings never to return.
His exit seemed a shame, as I recall, because Flynn really was a docile dog.
The rest of the Four Seasons cast of The Wizard of Oz promise to be on their best behavior, however.
Haven Tietjen is set to play Dorothy in the show. She was in the ensemble of the 2021 Cache Theatre Company’s production of Matilda and charmingly played one the Banks children opposite Sarah Huff in the 2022 Four Seasons’ production of Mary Poppins.
Ms. Tietjen’s companions on the Yellow Brick Road will be Josh Hopkins as the Scarecrow, Dallin Clark as the Tin Man and Stanton Allen as the cowardly Lion. All of those actors are veterans of previous Cache Valley productions.
In 2019, Hopkins appeared in Four Seasons’ productions of A Christmas Carol and The Drowsy Chaperone.
Clark has appeared in MTW’s productions of Forever Plaid, The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Music Man as well as Mary Poppins for the Four Seasons company.
Allen has appeared in MTW productions of Newsies, The Music Man and Beauty and the Beast.
Providing the magic in The Wizard of Oz, Lauren Kian will play Glinda, Afton Whitney will portray the Wicked Witch of the West and Kyle Cottam is cast as the Wizard himself.
Performing multiple roles, other members of the cast include Bennett Floyd, Germain Costa Jr., Sam Tuescher, Jessica Christensen, Anna Brown, Kellianne Rosner, Topher Rosenlund, Kestlie Harding, Emma Rosenlund and Maggie Gadd.
Members of the choral and dance ensembles will double as jitterbug dancers, flying monkeys and Winkies.
They are Karl Calderwood, Dustin Haywood, Morgan Horsburgh, Danielle Israelsen, Ian Martin, Abigail Slade, Riley Richie and Annaliese Resendes.
The Wizard of Oz will be performed June 15 to July 1 in the auditorium of Sky View High School in Smithfield.