The characters, dialogue, music and images — like the yellow brick road and Kansas twister — from the 1939 MGM motion picture have been a perennial favorite for generations, says Sue Muellen, director of the MCHS Theater Department. “This cast is sure to bring the treasured show to a live performance that never ages, even in this, its 70th anniversary year.”

The show was chosen by popular request of the senior thespians at MCHS, with plenty of other student interest, Muellen said. The show also includes students from Ss. Peter and Paul School and St. Mary School in Alton, and St. Ambrose School in Godfrey.

“We applied to the Illinois Arts Council and received a quick start grant to get the local community involved in the project,” says Mueller, whose previous shows at Marquette were Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and The Music Man.

“We were able to bring in Roger Speidel, a design/technical director from SIU-E, to teach workshops on set design and art work to kids and parents during the weeks of rehearsals. We were also able to put together a production team of professionals — people with community theater experience, people educated in theater — and opened our show up for on-the-job training for people interested in doing theater work, to learn as they worked alongside the professionals.”

Tickets for The Wizard of Oz are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, MCHS students are free. Tickets may be purchased at the MCHS office, 219 East Fourth St., Alton, during regular business hours, or may be purchased an hour prior to the performance at the Nazarene Community Center, 400 Central Ave., Roxana.

For more information call (618) 463-0580 or visit www.marquettecatholic.com.