Ottawa Hills High School - Legend Yearbook (Grand Rapids, MI)

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Musical . i- .-- :• t- afcove- The scarecrow and the lion are having a spat. left: Bernard looks suave as the WIz. ' right: Sharon sings her heart out.

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above left — The tapdancers show some talent. above right — Wish 1 could do that. right — Female dancers pose for the camera. below left — Look at me! This year Mrs. Harris turned out another group of talented dancers. The Talented and Sophisticated Dancers. (T.S. Danc- ers) This years squad was a melting pot of breakdancers. tap- dancers and electric boogaloos. The tapdancers included the talents of Brett Saunders, Barbara Bennett and Christoph Klein. This years team has performed at various functions including basketball games and the pep assemblies. The leaders of this very talented squad were Heather Drake (captain) Brian Broyles (captain) Trina-lris Harris (co-captain) and Lisa Partee (secretary). To be successful they had to practice very hard including returning to school on Saturday mornings. Some of the outstanding dancers were Bernard Macklin, Brian Droyles, Greg Vinson and Noel Webley. This years squad was special because one of the tapdancers, Christoph Klein was an exchange stu- dent from Germany. Rumor has it that this group might have been named after Mrs. Harris ' two daughters, but who knows?

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above: The wiz tells Dorothy to kill the witch. above right: Kim made a wonderful Dorothy! right: Dorothy. Scarecrow, lion and Tinman Ease on Down the Road above: Scarecrow and Tinman were buddies. The Wiz, this year ' s musical was very fast paced and full of energy. Rodney Vaccaro directed it. He did an excellent job. The cast and crew worked very hard on this play. They began rehearsals on December 2nd from 3-6 p.m. Monday through Friday until opening night. Sometimes they re- hearsed from 6:30 to 9:30 right before opening night. The play lasted three days: The 28th of February and the 1st and 2nd of March. This play is very much like The Wizard of Oz. In The Wiz, Dorothy gets blown by a tornado to Oz. She then proceeds to find the wizard, and on the way, meets the lion, tin-man, and scarecrow just like in The Wizard of Oz. Though the story- line is the same, there are a few differences. For instance. The Wiz is modern, the lines are funnier, and the songs are faster. The costumes are more modern than in The Wizard of Oz. There are a few scene changes too. First, the yellow brick road is made up of people and second, the poppies are ladies of the evening. The actors and director are not the only reasons for a successful play. The stage crew and other technical jobs play a large part in the production. Tom Hough runs the lights and Mr. Sawyer handles the stage crew. Their jobs are very important to the play. Lighting takes skill and timing, if the timing is off it can hurt the play. The stage crew has, to handle the scene changes flawlessly, so the audience does not get restless. Bernard Macklin was the Wiz. He did a superb job. Kim Battle was a perfect Dorothy. Her friends were: Tim Reilly, the tin-man; Marvin Sapp, the scarecrow; and Tony Kilgo. as the lion. Each of those main characters played their part to perfection along witb everybody else in the cast.