GCHS Musical Theatre program has announced its 2018 musical: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. 

Last year the crew worked tirelessly to produce a recreation of Beauty and the Beast and multiple smaller performances that brought together GC’s talent for vocals, dance, choreography, and working together as a team to make the show as seamless as possible.

Graves County is one of the few schools in the area who features a live orchestra pit during the performances.

Musical theatre teacher and coordinator, Mr. Mason Rice recently held auditions and cast 46 students in acting and tech roles, and 45 students in the orchestra. Rice claimed, “the process was very difficult.”

When we asked Rice how he thinks the outcome will be, he said, “We’re hoping that each show will be SOLD OUT. So we recommend you buy your tickets as soon as they are available. We always sell tickets at the door, so be on the lookout.”

The cast list was also recently announced, so we caught up with stars of this year’s musical.

Noah Saxon stated “I am the Winkie General. I think the play is going to be wonderful this year, and I am happy to have the part that I have.”

Tristen Reed said “I play a crow in Act one and a polisher/Oz man in Act two.  I’m so glad to have my roles, I honestly am super happy about them. I’m so ready for every touch-step. I honestly think this production is going to be amazing. The people are amazing and so is our director, so I’m ready for it all.”

Paige Jones said “I’m extremely excited and I think the production will go great. A lot of hard work is already going in to the musical and I’m excited about being the Wicked Witch. It will definitely be a fun role to play.”

Rice told us “There are all sorts of musical numbers in the Wizard of Oz. The songs are sang by cast members, but all numbers are played by the orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Hill. The orchestra has many moments where they play without singers at all. All your favorite songs from the movie will be featured!”