Yellow brick road leads to the Harbour

FITZROY HARBOUR – For Constance Bay’s Mackenzie Aldis musical theatre is a passion. So much so, she’s leading a group of actors and volunteers through the massive undertaking of bringing Bethel-St. Andrew’s United Church’s first musical stage production to life.

Aldis and her team of actors and crew are working hard to bring Oz! the Musical to life in time for its June 12 premier.

Based on the Wizard of Oz, this version is tailor made for a smaller cast to bring to life.

“It’s a bit of a different version from the Wizard of Oz fpr a smaller theatre company,” Aldis told West Carleton Online Sunday, May 24 during a break in rehearsal inside Bethel-St. Andrew’s Church.

Aldis is serving as producer-director and taking on the huge project of bringing the production to life for West Carleton (and beyond) theatre lovers. At 19-years-old, she just wrapped up her first year at Carleton University but wanted to follow her passion for musical theatre in to spring.

“I was looking for musical theatre opportunities for myself,” she said. “There are the Kanata Theatre and Lakeside Players, but both are a pretty far to drive out from West Carleton and there’s so many people who audition and so much interest in the companies, they often have to turn away a lot of people. I think musical theatre is a great community builder and I think it should be about bringing people together and uplifting people and making them feel a big part of something. I wanted this to be a community builder.”

In the past, Aldis has also volunteered with the Rural Root Theatre Company based out of her hometown in Constance Bay, but they haven’t done a musical since 2019. Aldis actually was part of that production.

“I was like, ‘I’ll bring it back to West Carleton,’” Aldis said. “I reached out to the church about sponsoring it and giving me the space to work with, and it’s all kind of coming together.”

Aldis is the great-granddaughter of Fitzroy Harbour’s Mary and Jack Lougheed. Jack was a longtime reverend of the church and the road the church is on is named in his honour.

West Carleton Online interviewed the late Jack Lougheed in 2019 and you can read that story here. Jack passed in 2023 and you can read his obituary here.

Bethel-St. Andrew’s has done some small, church-based plays in the past, but nothing of this magnitude.

“We’ve done some small church musicals and pageants but nothing like a big production with community members before,” Aldis said. “It’s been really amazing. So many people have reached out to me. Friends I didn’t even know who were in to musical theatre. Pat, who also attends the church, is doing all the costumes, and she’s amazing. My friend Ruth had sets for us, because she had done Wizard of Oz before with another musical group. Members of the congregation rebuilt the whole front of the church so we could have a stage. Everyone’s coming together to make it work as a big production. I’ve had so much help, and my family has really come together and helped make this dream of mine come true. My mom is vocal director and assistant director. My dad is doing all the sound and lighting. My boyfriend is the music director. My grandpa is the wizard. Whenever there’s been a spot to fill, my family has really come together to help make this dream come true and I really wouldn’t be able to do it without all of them.”

The cast is 17 people and around 10 crew members and a group of volunteers who will come in to help on show dates.

“There’s been so many people who volunteered to sew costumes and the behind-the-scenes work,” Aldis said. “I think it would probably be around 50 people helping out.”

You have to love theatre to put this kind of work in to a production.

“I think the first musical I was ever in was the Rural Roots production,” Aldis said. “The music director at the church at the time was the director of that show. She brought me in and I fell in love with musical theatre. After that I did musical theatre day camps when I was younger. I just loved it. In high school I went to West Carleton Secondary School, and I was in their production of Mamma Mia. I have always loved musical theatre and watching musicals. I saw a need for it in the community and just went from there. It’s my first show I have ever directed. It’s going very well. In my last musical, I did all the costumes, but I’ve never taken on a leadership role like this and it’s been very rewarding. Just seeing how far everyone has come. It’s a lot of work. I’m in school at Carleton University, but right now I’m off for summer. Yesterday (May 23), I built Dorothy’s house. There’s just so much going on and so much to do. It’s a lot of communication, but it’s just been so rewarding to see how far our cast and crew have come, and how it’s really coming together now. It’s awesome to see.”

Aldis started work on the project last November by reaching out to the board of the church for permission to host the production there and looking for what show she could do and figuring out the logistics.

Auditions started in January, and then the work of putting the show together began after that.

Since then, the project has grown into a true community effort. Volunteers have stepped forward to help with costumes, choreography, music, set construction, audio-visual production, and even renovations to improve the church stage space. Performers of all ages who auditioned were guaranteed a role, helping create an inclusive and encouraging environment for performers of all experience levels.

The cast is all ages with the youngest member only five-years-old going right up to more than 70.

“It’s super fun and it really works for this show,” Aldis said. “The story of the Wizard of Oz is there’s the little munchkins, but the wizard is clearly an adult, so it really works for this production.”

Aldis and her team looked at a variety of options for the show, but she always really liked the story within the Wizard of Oz.

“I knew that I wanted something where we could have multiple generations be in the show and work together which has been one of the coolest things that I have seen,” Aldis said. “There are not many activities where you have someone who is five and someone who is 75. Oz has a very flexible ensemble, so going in to this my thought was I didn’t want to tell anyone who auditioned they couldn’t be in the show. I wanted everyone to have a role, even if it wasn’t the one they auditioned for. I wanted everyone to have the opportunity to participate. It’s a really great show for families to come and see. I wanted it to be community building with a nice message of working together and helping out friends.”

Follow the yellow brick road to an unforgettable musical adventure with BSA Musical Theatre. Join Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion as they journey toward Emerald City in this magical stage production filled with heart, courage, friendship and classic Oz-inspired fun.

Oz! the Musical will take place at Bethel-St. Andrew’s United Church (184 Jack Lougheed Way) from Friday, June 12 to Sunday June 14 with four shows scheduled including Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $20 and are available here.