First-time community theater director Bryan Blanks and his mostly rookie cast of 25 local teens have had their share of ups and downs throughout the rehearsal process of "The Wiz," this year's Peoria Players Summer Youth Theatre production, but are ready to see their dedication pay off.
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Aug. 10.
Where: Peoria Players Theatre, 4300 N. University.
Tickets: $17/adults; $12/ages 18 and younger. Calling 688-4473.
Blanks, 23, a recent graduate of Monmouth College, was nervous about every part of the process, but his primary concern was finding the perfect cast and one that was true to what "The Wiz" writer William Brown intended.
A funky, soulful spin-off of "The Wizard of Oz," "The Wiz" traditionally is made up of African-American actors. Opening on Broadway in 1975, "The Wiz" won over audiences and garnered seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It later was made into a movie in 1978, starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and Peoria's own Richard Pryor as the Wiz himself.
But open to a variety of interpretations, "The Wiz," is never the same from one theater to the next. For the upcoming Peoria Players production, Blanks decided for a hip-hop vibe set in a 1990s inner city.
Covered in graffiti, the creative set designed by Blanks and carried out by Chip Joyce adds a colorful backdrop to the peculiar characters Dorothy meets along her way to Oz.
While some of the cast members, ages 21 and younger, are no stranger to the stage, most of the actors are new to theater. But that hardly means they lack talent.
Dorothy, played by Peoria High School senior Porscha Jackson, has grown up singing but is making her theater debut.
"The stage has become my second home," she said, noting that learning the basics of theater while also memorizing dozens of songs and lines has been a challenge. But would she do it again? "Oh, heck yeah," she said, without a pause.
Jackson's co-stars include Bryson Thomas, a junior at Woodruff High School, as the hip-hop, brain-longing Scarecrow; Darrius Duncan, a senior at Peoria High, as the heart-warming Tinman; and Barry Moton, a junior at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, as the Cowardly Lion.
"I can't imagine a better cast than what I have," Blanks said, who recruited the majority of his actors while substituting for Peoria District 150 during the spring semester. Though he spent months passing out fliers and talking with individual students, Blanks admits he was nervous no one would show up to auditions in May.
"Everyone said I wouldn't be able to have a black cast," he said. "I honestly didn't know who would come out."
Blanks got the group of teens he wanted, also casting several young white actors, including Bradley University sophomore Kelly Kooken as the wicked witch Evillene and Illinois Central College sophomore Deric Kimler as the Wiz. Blanks also pulled together a young production staff, including choreographer Sarah Haynes, a junior at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and recent Peoria High graduate Mike Jones as music director.
Playing the Cowardly Lion for a second time, Moton said he was skeptical at first about working with such a young production staff and rookie cast but quickly realized how much untapped talent has come together for "The Wiz."
"I'm learning from them," he said, noting that he expected those roles to be reversed. "I'm not being modest. I'm serious. There is so much talent here."