May 29, 30, June 4 (2 performances), 5, 11, 12, 1966
On deciding to produce The Wizard of Oz, adapted from the much loved children's book by L. Frank Baum, the first question was how to make the house fly. Indoor theaters have flies above the stage to raise and lower sets. The Forest Theatre has flies too, but they're insects and no one has ever found any way to use them. The Forest Theatre does have big trees and creative people.
By running a stout cable from a tree in the back of the Theatre to a tree on stage, they flew a miniature of the house over the audience and onto the stage, where it crushed the Wicked Witch of the East. This was a very impressive feat that worked beautifully, every time but once. The weight of the very sturdily-built house caused the cable to sag just as it crossed the first row of the audience and on to stage. A member of the audience was bumped slightly by the house, but no real harm was done. However, a lightweight house was substituted for subsequent performances.
Harriet Walker, who played Miss Gulch and the Wicked Witch of the West, was in her early 70's then. Director Earl Kelly told her that she could just walk the bike across the stage, rather than ride it if she preferred not to ride. Harriet retorted, "I was riding a bike before you were born." She rode the bike.
One interesting aspect of the show was that it wasn't the musical, so the story was the 'main thing' of the show.
An unbelievable 1832 attended the last performance; a record 6,588 attended the seven performances.
