Writer/Editor: Elisabeth Zhang
Translator: Penny Chen

Let’s play a guessing game!
Read the following clues and guess the classic:
A cowardly lion
A scarecrow without a brain
A tin woodman without a heart
An innocent and kind-hearted girl
An adventurous journey of self-discovery

We are all familiar with the Wizard of Oz, an American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Widely considered to be one of the greatest films in cinema history, it is the best-known and most commercially successful adaption of L. Frank Baum’s children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Excitingly, this year, based on this classical story, our performing arts team put on a wonderful musical performance on our campus.

Summary of the Story:
Dorothy lives with her hardworking but dour Uncle Henry and Aunt Em on the bleak Kansas prairie. One day a dangerous cyclone sweeps across the prairie, and picks her, her house, and her dog up and deposits them in the land of Oz.

Things in Oz are strange and beautiful, but Dorothy just wants to get back home. Under the guidance of the Good Witch of the North, Dorothy and her dog follow the Yellow Brick Road towards the Emerald City to meet the Wizard who can help them find their way back home.

On their journey, they meet Scarecrow who needs a brain, Tin Woodman who misses a heart, and Cowardly Lion who wants courage.

Along their path, they face many obstacles and trials. They also get in trouble with the Wicked Witch of the West. Will they finally fulfil their journey? Let’s find out!

This is an allegorical musical.
From our young performers’ perspective, the audience explored the ability of how our kids understand the world and get along with people, and how they build their self-awareness and self-identification.

This is also a journey in which a group of travellers seek for courage, love and wisdom.
The final award for this adventure is to achieve their aspirations.
Scarecrow uses his intuition to walk beside Dorothy with the faith and knowledge that he will find what he is seeking, and in the end, he discovers is already there.

Cowardly Lion encounters fear on the journey but when he truly believes in himself and faces his fears, he has the courage and bravery to move past them.

Tin Woodman gets a red silk heart after recognising his self-worth by being loved by another.

The wonderful musical shows that each of the travellers already possessed what they had thought they lacked. What the wizard rewards them with proves that they have already become who they want to be.

All the power you achieve comes from your own path in life – what you want to be, where you want to go, and how you want to live.

Last but not least, let’s praise and applaud our performing arts team and all our young performers. Thanks to all the team members who gave their time and effort on this musical.

List of performers and acknowledgements