University of Denver

June 25, 2008— While Dorothy and Toto are learning the ways of Oz, four DU students and two recent graduates are learning how to put on an all-youth production of The Wizard of Oz.

It’s the idea of the play’s director, Anthony Hubert, an assistant professor in DU’s theater department and co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Conservatory Theatre.

“They are learning how to run a theater and how it runs in the real world,” Hubert says.

Alex Ngo, a junior theater and biology major, is Hubert’s assistant director for the show.

“It’s amazing,” Ngo says. “I was panicked when I heard we were going to [produce] a musical in three weeks, but we’ve come so far and made great progress.”

The production is part of the conservatory’s three-week summer camp for children ages 5–17. At camp’s end, there are four live performances. The campers will perform The Wizard of Oz June 26–27 and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland July 17–18.

Hubert is preparing Ngo to direct the second summer camp and production. He gave Kate Smith, a senior music and theater major, the position of musical director and choreographer.

“I love working with the kids,” Smith says. “I feel like I learn more from them than they learn from me.”

Smith wants to be a director one day and believes her experience with the conservatory is invaluable.

“I feel like if I can direct 58 kids, I will be able to handle adults in the future,” she says.

The Wizard of Oz opens June 26 at 11:30 a.m. in the Little Theatre in DU’s Margery Reed Hall. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for children 3–15, and free for ages 2 and younger. Tickets for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland go on sale June 30.

Performances are open to the public. For details, visit the conservatory Web site.

Read about other summer camps.