Synopsis

The story begins in Kansas. Dorothy Gale lives with her dog Toto on the farm of her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Dorothy's dog gets in trouble with a mean neighbor, Miss Almira Gulch, when Toto bites her. However, Dorothy's family and the farmhands are all too busy to pay attention to her. Miss Gulch arrives with permission from the sheriff to have Toto euthanized. She takes him away, but he escapes and returns to Dorothy, who then decides to run away from home, fearing that Gulch will return.

They meet Professor Marvel, a phony but kindly fortune teller, who realizes Dorothy has run away and tricks her via his crystal ball into believing that Aunt Em is ill so that she must return home. She races home just as a powerful tornado strikes. Unable to get into her family's storm cellar, she seeks safety in her bedroom. A wind-blown window sash hits her in the head, knocking her out. She begins dreaming. The house is picked up and sent spinning in the air by the twister. Inside the storm outside the window, she awakens and sees an elderly lady in a chair, several farm animals, two men rowing a boat, and Miss Gulch (still pedaling her bicycle), who transforms into a cackling witch flying on a broomstick.

The farmhouse crashes in Munchkinland in the Land of Oz. Glinda the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins welcome her as their heroine, as the house has landed on and killed the Wicked Witch of the East, leaving only her stocking feet exposed. The Wicked Witch of the West arrives to claim her sister's ruby slippers, but Glinda transports them onto Dorothy's feet first. The Wicked Witch of the West swears revenge on Dorothy for her sister's death. Glinda tells Dorothy to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, where the Wizard of Oz might be able to help her get back home.

On her way, Dorothy meets and befriends the Scarecrow, who wants a brain, the Tin Woodman, who desires a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, who is in need of courage. Dorothy invites each of them to accompany her. After encountering the Witch, who attempts to stop them, they finally reach the Emerald City. Inside, after being initially rejected, they are permitted to see the Wizard (who appears as a large head surrounded by fire). He agrees to grant their wishes when they bring him the Witch of the West's broomstick.

On their journey to the Witch's castle, the group passes through the Haunted Forest, while the Witch views their progress through a crystal ball. She sends her winged monkeys to ambush the four; they capture Dorothy and Toto. At the castle, the Witch receives a magical shock when she tries to get the slippers off Dorothy, then remembers that Dorothy must first be killed. Toto escapes and leads her friends to the castle. After ambushing three Winkie guards, they march inside wearing the stolen uniforms and free her, but the Witch and her guards chase them across the battlements and finally surround them. When the Witch sets fire to the Scarecrow, Dorothy puts out the flames with a bucket of water; the Witch is splashed and melts away. The guards rejoice that she is dead and give Dorothy the charred broomstick in gratitude.

Back at the Emerald City, the Wizard delays granting their requests. Then Toto pulls back a curtain and exposes the "Wizard" as a normal middle-aged man who has been projecting the fearsome image; he denies Dorothy's accusation that he is a bad man, but admits to being a humbug. He then gives the Scarecrow a diploma, the Lion a medal, and the Tin Man a ticking heart-shaped watch, granting their wishes and convincing them that they have received what they sought. He then prepares to launch his hot air balloon to take Dorothy home, but Toto chases a cat, Dorothy follows, and the balloon leaves without them. Glinda arrives and tells her that she can still return home by tapping her heels together three times and repeating, "There's no place like home". Dorothy taps her heels together and awakens from her dream, surrounded by her family, Professor Marvel, and Toto.

((Here it is, lovelies, the place to post if you're going to post! As always, please respect the setting, and have fun with it!))

Everyone loved The Wizard of Oz. Everyone. Brend was thrilled to be a part of the production, he would have even played Toto - and done a damn good job of it, no less (he'd given the idea some serious consideration). He'd never really considered himself in the role of Tin Woodsman until now, though he'd often cast himself in most of the others. Really the Woodsman did care more than his lack of heart would imply - something that it took Brend some time to wrap his mind around, acting like he cared while acting like he didn't care, or....whatever the case - he was sure he could nail it.

He had to admit to being a little jealous of two of the other actors in particular; Yasmin and Eregor, respectively Scarecrow and the Wizard. Hard to feel it wasn't a little heavy handed casting though - even if he understood the choices. The former, Yas as the Scarecrow, required lines - and that was it, the physicality and everything else was built right into the actor; as for the latter in Eregor and his role as the Wizard, who could argue with that hair? And let's not even get into the eyes - fascinating to see him in the role despite the juxtaposition of his demeanor versus the pomposity of the Wizard.

Just for kicks, Brend couldn't resist ad libbing a little when running lines - as long as it wasn't during an actual full rehearsal or something; though perhaps it wasn't as much ad lib as it was line substitution: every so often, he'd drop a line from the movie 'The Wiz', instead of the right lines he was supposed to be going over. Hopefully it didn't ever happen accidentally on stage. Just to reassure the esteemed director, whenever she was around and he was in danger of being heard substituting - which he'd do on purpose given half a chance - he shoot a sly wink just after he'd give the line.

Like this:

"The genius who created me only took care of my dashing good looks, my razor sharp wit and my irresistible attraction to the wrong women."

Then wink...

Wink...

Just like that.

For the 'Wizard of Oz', the Von Tombs family arrived with the air of royalty, from the elegant Rolls Royce to the bouquets of green roses sent to each of the cast members — except for the Wicked Witch and Dorothy. Saila received a bouquet of red poppies and blue larkspur; Sabine a bouquet of colorful strawflowers, small yellow mums, and silver dollar pods, in a small ceramic Toto shaped vase.

Jack and Pharlen sat back to enjoy the show, while Jackie sat between her little brother and sister, watching eagerly. Not a peep out of any of them, Desdenova didn't even consult with his Pad during the show. He'd say because his parents would clock him for disrespecting the performers, but he was just as engrossed in the story as little Alice.

Afterwards, the family waited for Jackie as she scooted backstage to squeal in delight to Saila and Sabine, rattling off something about awesomeness and wonder and singing and and and and then she was gone, zooming back to join her parents and siblings in the big Rolls.

On a whim Duci had decided to attend the Wednesday matinee of 'The Wizard of Oz.' She saw a flyer on a run to the Marketplace, bedazzled by the colorful poster. "Ooh, pretty," she commented, grinning like a child to Christmas to herself. It had been a lot longer than she cared to admit since she had last attended anything, so she hurried home to change so that she could make it in time for the 12:30 curtain opening.

Dressed more minimally than usual, she arrived at the Shanachie Theater with little fanfare. Since she was still a little early, she bought a solitary ticket before opting to peruse the cafe for a bite to eat and a warm drink. She was quiet, enjoying watching other people. When she saw others beginning to enter and find their seats, she smiled at the server and lifted her purse with a wave. A few gold were left behind as tip.

Joining the throng of people, she provided her ticket to an usher to help her find her seat. She sat up in the stalls and to stage right, feeling antsy as she thanked the usher before seating herself. The amount of kids attending made her smile though, happy to see the Arts receiving their proper due.

Having been unfamiliar with the story prior, she gasped and oohed and ahhed appropriately. "Nice shoes," she murmured to herself with an appraising nod to the shoes. Who wouldn't kill for those?! "Those are some good friends she's found herself," Duci nodded, leaning forward with anticipation. There may have been a slight shriek of surprise when the Wicked Witch melts from water being dumped on her, and she ducked low in her seat, red with embarrassment.

In the end, she stood up and clapped boisterously for the cast and crew. "Bravo! Bravo!" Then she dipped out just as quietly as she arrived, a few winks and blown kisses for anyone who recognizes her.

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And so she dreams"

" Sabine as Dorothy " Salvador Delahada as Scarecrow " Canaan Devillier as Tin Man " Josiah Aubrey as Cowardly Lion " Aoife as Glinda the Good Witch of the North " Susan (Sabine's Mother)as The Wicked Witch of the Northwest " Lou, Sabine and Josiah's dog as Toto

Sabine Lou, I've a feeling we're not in the Northwest Rhydin Hemisphere any more. We must be over the mountain!



Now I....I know we're not in Northwest Rhydin anymore!

Aoife: The sun is safe.

Sabine stared at the good witch and nodded with uncertainty, not knowing what that meant but there was something almost ominous about the way it was said and with the the sky darkened. Suddenly a witch appears.

Wicked Witch: I can't attend to you here and now as I'd like, but just try to stay out of my way".just try! I'll get you my pretty, and your dog too!

Sabine jumped back, frightened at seeing her mother in the main city. Had she been followed"

With a withering stare from Aoife, the witch disappeared and the sky brightened again, the sun shining down.

Aoife: The sun is safe.

Sabine: Yes, yes you said that. I see now.

Aoife: I'm afraid you've made rather a bad enemy of the Wicked Witch of the Northwest hemisphere of Rhydin. The sooner you get away from her, the safer you'll sleep, my dear.

?"" The dream morphed from the good witch, Aoife who had begun to sing. Sabine had a strange feeling wash over her and started to feel sleepy. In a sudden fright at the witches power, she ran off.

A coffee shop appeared and she ran inside only to bump into a bristly looking man, Sal the Scarecrow. Sabine had noticed how quiet the man was, hardly speaking a word but answering all of her questions with grunts and grimaces that seemed more honest than the words anyone else had ever given her. For a moment though, she thought perhaps the man was a bit dull in the head and grew a little frustrated by his lack of conversational abilities. Even if she could appreciate his honest grunts, she still craved more than one word answers.

Sabine: How do you talk if you don't have a brain"

Sal: Well, some people without brains do an awful lot of talking don't they, Nena"

Sabine: Yes, I guess you're right.

She couldn't argue with that. The more someone talked the more likely it was they lacked a brain at all. The city had proved to have a lot of loud fools. She appreciated the fact that the man did not get offended by her blurting out of rude questions but instead seemed amused by her.

Sabine: How do you do'

She tried again to engage the strange man in conversation.

Sal: Oh, I'm not feeling at all well. You see, it's very tedious being stuck here with people assuming they know me when they don't know me at all.

Sabine: Oh, dear — that must be terribly uncomfortable. No one likes to be misunderstood. Let me help.

Sal: Oh, that's very kind of you — very kind.

The strange man said with uncertainty as the girl edged closer to him. He bared his teeth and looked to be in pain as she sat beside him.

Sabine: Well, oh, dear — I don't quite".

She looked the man over trying to decide where to begin with him. What to say, what to do. How could she show him she wouldn't mind the effort it would take to be his friend"

The man lazily stretched and when the hem of his shirt lifted she saw many scars and without thinking, she reached out to touch them.

Sabine: Oh — does it hurt you?

Sal: Oh, no — I just keep cutting myself open and stitching myself back together again.

Sabine: Ohhh "

The man pulled his shirt down and leaned away from her while emitting a low noise that sounded something like a growl. Sabine moved away some and took her hands with her.

Sabine: Oh! Oh! Ohhh!

Sal: Did I scare you?

Sabine: No, No — I — I just thought it hurt.

Sal: But I didn't scare you?

Sabine: No, of course not.

Sal: I didn't think so.

The strange man smiled as if he had shared a secret while keen eyes studied her.

Sal: You're a brave girl, Nena.

A sad looking man entered then and the strange man known as Sal seemed to light up when the sad man entered.

Sabine: Oh, goodness! How did you ever get like this"

She had never seen such a beautiful man so consumed by sadness before.

Cane: Oh — well, about a year ago — I was in love- when suddenly"

He trailed off and without him finishing, Sabine seemed to understand.

Cane: And I've been this way ever since.

Sabine: Well, I think you're perfect now.

Cane: Oh — bang on my chest if you think I'm perfect. Go ahead — bang on it!

The sad mad tried to hide his sadness by puffing up his chest and putting on a happier mask while offering a display of manliness.

Taken by surprise, Sabine raised up her eyebrows but reached out her hand to touch.

Sabine: Oh "!

She said with great marveling in her voice. If the man did not wish to talk about what mad him sad, then she would be happy to play along and fawn over him.

Sal: Beautiful!

Strange man seemed to being eyeing the other man's chest but his eyes did not linger there long.

Cane: It's empty. He forgot to give me back my heart.

Sal and Sabine: No heart"

Cane: No heart.

Sabine: Oh.

Cane: All hollow.

Sabine reached for Cane's hand.

Cane: If I only had a heart.

Sabine: Oh, are you all right"

Cane: I'm afraid I'm a little rusty yet. It's hard to let people in again.

Sabine: Oh dear. Well - we were just wondering if maybe you'd like to try with us.

Cane: It might hurt.

Sal: But you've just been saying how much you want a heart.

Sabine: We'll be right here.

Cane: Well"

Sabine: You've come so far already.

The wicked witch of the northwest appeared again out of nowhere.

Wicked Witch: Helping the little lady along, are you, my fine gentlemen" Well, stay away from her!

And then the wicked witch disappeared.

Sabine: That the Witch is so wicked. I don't think you two ought to be around me. I'm no good.

Sal: Oh, you don't think we're going to stand by and let her get away with threatening us do you?

Sabine: Oh, you're the best friends anybody ever had! And it's funny, but I feel as if I've known you all the time. But I couldn't have, could I"

Sal: Ngh.

Cane: No.

The two men eyed eachother and then side-eyed Sabine as if they wondered about her sanity.

Sabine: I guess it doesn't matter anyway. We know each other now, don't we"

Sal: That's right.

Cane: We do. ?"?????"

The three of them set off towards Dockside and the sun began to set. A terrible noise could be heard, a man groaning in pain. Moments later they stumbled upon another man who was clutching his hand to his chest, the one who had been crying out in pain.

Sabine: My goodness, what a fuss you're making. Why, it's nothing but a hand!

Josiah: You're right"

Sabine looked surprised to see him agree but suddenly the man seemed calmer and he looked at his and then back to her.

Sabine: Why don't you come along with us"

Josiah: Well, wouldn't you feel degraded to be seen in the company of a man with a mangled hand"

Sabine: No, of course not. It's just a hand.

Josiah: Gee, that's — that's awfully nice of you.

Josiah: What are you three doing down on this side of town" You know there are vampires, and witches, and orcs.

Sabine: Vampires"! Sal: And witches. Cane: And orcs. Sabine: Oh my!

Josiah: Well, come on then. What are you waiting for"

Sabine: Let's run!

In the distance as they ran from Dockside towards New Haven, they all began to hear the most beautiful song and the good witch, Aoife appeared again a few moments later, softly singing her song.

Sabine: Oh, no — please. I have to rest for just a minute.

They all began to yawn and Sabine laid down.

Cane: Sabine, You can't sleep here! You can't sleep in the middle of a sidewalk.

The wicked witch of the northwest could be heard cackling.

Aoife: You're out of the woods. You're out of the dark. You're out of the night. Step into the sun. Step into the light. Keep straight ahead for....

Sabine shot up right in bed.

"Whozis" Whatzis" Whozat?" said as she looked around in a panic with her heart pounding. Not really frightened but it was such a strange feeling. It had been so real.

"Uh that was so weird." She rolled over and laid back down, her head resting on Josiah's chest.

"There's no place like home." mumbled in a sleepy voice as she drifted back off.

_____________

The next morning.

Sabine sat curled up in the corner of the couch with her script in one hand and her tea mug in the other. They had just got back to Rhydin only a few days before from visiting Josiah's family.

Josiah had just finished cooked breakfast and brought her a plate of food. Despite claiming she wasn't hungry, he had reminded her that she would need to eat to have enough energy to perform twice a day. This role would of course be more taxing than her previous one.

"I still can't believe they gave me this role. I can't believe that she thinks I'm ready. This role, Josiah, it's iconic. I mean, Dorothy?" She blew out a breath. "Tiny red shoes but hard to fill. I'm not sure I've even made it through Somewhere Over the Rainbow yet without crying in rehearsals. "

He offered words of encouragement, telling her that he knew she would do well. That she was perfect for the part. That what made her so natural at acting was how much of herself she could put into each role and find a connection with the characters.

Finally, she took the plate from him and began to nibble.

"Sabine?"

"Hm?"

He leaned down to give her a kiss and murmured the words she had uttered last night after collapsing on to his chest, into her ear.





(NOTE: The dream happens after a night of rehersing for the upcoming play. Much of the dialog in the dream was taken directly from the movie/play script and altered accordingly. The alterations were mostly based upon real interactions with Sabine's friends. The dialog used begins when Dorothy enters Oz and meets Glinda. Then she meets Scarecrow and helps him down, then she meets the rusted Tin Man, and a bit later the Lion, they continue on towards Oz and the dream ends where the field of poppies scene comes into play. Just to give you a visual of how the dream and movie overlap.

Movie Script: https://www.wendyswizardofoz.com/printablescript.h tm )

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Playing Maureen Johnson in Rent had taught Saila a lot. After a short break, she was super stoked to head back into rehearsals for the Wizard of Oz, no matter who she ended up playing — the play looked like so much fun that she would have been content to be a munchkin, or even a flying monkey. She couldn't wait to see what she might learn next.

But when she looked at the cast list and discovered she was playing the Wicked Witch" Oh man, the instant jubilation. It was a lead role, and the villain. The mercurial teen had never gotten to be a villain before, and she was looking forward to it with absolute relish. She scanned the rest of the list quickly and discovered that, once again, she would be playing opposite Sabine. From lovers to mortal enemies inside two months. Wow. First I'm making out with her and now she's killing me, every night for the foreseeable future. There had to be a life lesson in there somewhere, right' The thought made her snicker, but honestly she was pretty excited about that, too. Getting to know Sabine better was one of her favorite things about this whole experience so far.

* * *

The part was not without its difficulties. For one thing, the character in question seemed...unnaturally interested in the dog. Saila was spending time with her favorite wolf one morning early on in the rehearsal schedule, reading through the script, when she felt compelled to ask about it.

"Why am I so obsessed with the **** dog?" Saila asked Quinn, sipping her coffee. She was halfway through the playbook, highlighting all of her lines so she could memorize them. "Is this a thing" Are witches just...that into dogs?" She tried to think whether she knew any self-professed witches she could ask directly.

"Well, yes," the white wolf said matter-of-factly. "Witches and dogs go together like" like" like things that go together really well, okay' I haven't had enough coffee for this."

In rehearsals, Saila could often be found apologizing to both of her canine co-stars accordingly. "I don't get why my character hates you guys so much," she would likely be overheard saying to Spider and Dewdrop, both, addressing them no differently than any of her two-legged colleagues. "I promise you it's not personal though, okay' I think you're great, really!"

On the night that a selection of cookies and dog biscuits were delivered backstage, Saila could be seen offering a dog biscuit or two to the furry actors, ostensibly to make up for her character's behavior.

* * *

The second problem that presented itself more or less immediately' It ain't easy being green.

"No problem," the crew's image designer was telling her, "no fuss, no mess. We're just going to do this charm spell on you—"

"—Uh. That could be a problem, actu—"

"Nonsense! We do this all the time, you'll be f—"

"No, I'm sure it's safe, it's just that I'm afrai—-"

"Don't be scared! There's nothing to worry about. It wears off within six h—-"

"I'm not scared," Saila insisted. "I just don't think it will—"

"Come, come. We're professionals. We got this. You'll see."

"Okay?" Saila was skeptical, but she took her pendant off and let them do their thing. Sure enough, the charm spell turned the teenaged actor green.

...For all of ten minutes.

"I don't'did you do something" How did you end up normal colored?"

"I tried to warn you about this. I—"

"Well, we'll just have to try it again. Here, ho—"

"I really don't think this is going to wor—"

"Of course it will. I'll do the stronger version this time. You'll see."

This time, it wore off even faster. Inside of six minutes, tops.

"What! How did this happen again?!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. I abso—"

"This has never happened before! What are we going to do' The Wicked Witch Must be green!"

"I" um. You could...Paint me?"

There was a blank stare. "P-paint you?"

"Well, yeah. I mean. That's how they do it on earth, right' Stage paint' Airbrushing" Something like that?"

"I — how very old fashioned. We've never done it that way before."

"Okay, but I need to be green, so' you can do it, right?"

"Well I suppose we can find the right materials...This is very unorthodox?"

And so it came to be that Saila was very probably the first actor in Shanachie history to be painted instead of charmed or otherwise magicked into the transformation. It made her call time a little earlier than the rest of the actors, because every day, sometimes twice a day, the girl had to be airbrushed from the top of her head to the ends of her fingertips in bright emerald green.

...Getting it off proved considerably trickier, however, than putting it on. A fact that was proven the night that Sabine's duel against the challenger for her Barony was scheduled just minutes after the final bow. There was no way in the world Saila wasn't going to show up to support her Dorothy, and she learned in the space of a heartbeat that there was no such thing as a quick and efficient way to wipe the makeup off.

So she showed up to the duel on Sabine's heels, every bit as green as she'd been onstage.

It had been awkward at first, but considering that she found herself chanting things like "Drop a house on her!" and "Go Pretty Go!" and even at one point cackling, not to mention Sabine's thorough trouncing of her opponent in the ring" It turned out to be a pretty good publicity stunt for the play, hopefully drawing more people into the audience. Especially when it was revealed that Glinda was in attendance, too.

Poor Hex, though. The man would be finding traces of green paint in his apartment for weeks to come.

* * *

Despite its complications, however, the role was an absolute blast to play. From the first time she whirled onstage and could hear all the little children in the front row gasp, to the final curtain call when she was 'resurrected" from her death by melting for the last time, Saila found that playing the bad guy just might be her new favorite thing ever.

It was cool, too, to find herself so well supported: nearly every night of the run there was some new gift, some card or bunch of flowers or other token of appreciation. Between Lucy, Jackie and Lirssa, people always seemed to be sneaking backstage to give hugs and offer congratulations. There was so much support and praise that Saila found herself, quite despite herself, in a truly excellent mood for the first time in weeks.

And getting to know the rest of her cast— spending time with Sabine and Yasmin and Eregor and Brendryck and Doran and Belle" That wasn't half bad, either. The fact that she'd found a thing she was genuinely good at, that she could do with people she genuinely liked" That was her favorite part of all.