About The Wizard of Oz
Shows are presented Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays @ 8:00 P.M. and on Sundays @ 2:00 P.M. The show lasts about 2 hours including a 15 minute intermission.
The theatre is located at 1835 Strand Way in Coronado. This is at the intersection of Ave de Las Arenas and Strand Way/Silver Strand Blvd, just south of the Hotel del Coronado. The theatre itself is in the City of Coronado Community Center. There is parking along Strand Way and the parallel Silver Strand Blvd, click here for a map and directions. The 901 and 904 buses stop just outside the theatre, click here for bus schedule and trip planning.
Director’s Notes
It is rather a daunting task to direct and produce such a well-known and beloved piece as The Wizard of Oz. How do you balance an audience’s expectations and memories with the desire to add something creative and new? How do you ensure that the story’s simple message that each of us carries within us the seeds of what we can be isn’t lost in the spectacle? Hopefully, we have been able to walk that fine line and provide an entertainment that is at once innovative and faithful to the source.
We have been blessed in our journey with an immensely talented and enthusiastic cast and crew. Our production features seasoned and novice, performers, craftsmen, and technicians from all over San Diego County, including the communities of Chula Vista, Coronado, La Jolla, San Diego, El Cajon, Encinitas, and Escondido, as well as recent transplants from the San Francisco and New York theatre communities.
Further, we have received tremendous support from the San Diego theatre community for which we are especially grateful. This includes Mike Lowe with the La Jolla Playhouse, Nikki Dunnan at Eveoke Dance Theatre, Carol Whaley at San Diego City College, and Lynn Renfrow and Julie Waldbauer with CCT.
I would also like to express my heartfelt appreciation for the unflagging efforts of: Jane Russell, who designed and made the majority of the close to 100 costumes worn in the show; Erich Einfalt who spent the last four months tirelessly orchestrating the beautiful Harold Arlen score; Theresa Plummer, for stepping in at the eleventh hour and painting the beautiful backgrounds projected during the show; Diana Valero-Olivier who, despite personal hardship, produced some amazing choreography; our tremendously talented musicians and cast; Katy Skyrud and Mary Anderson for their guidance and help; and Dale Goodman, Rosemary King, Frederick Martin, Nathan Bergquist, Dahlia Barakat, my assistant directors and stage managers, and all of the other designers and technicians without whom this production would not be possible.
Lastly, I would like to thank my wife, Phyllis Reeves, for her immense help, support, love, and faith. She is my rock and my compass.
Well, enough of my rambling. It is now time to step out of the woods, step out of the dark, step into the light. Step over the rainbow into the most glorious place on earth, the Land of Oz.
A Brief History of The Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz started off as a story L. Frank Baum told his sons and their friends. His wife Maude urged Frank to write the story down, and he soon produced a manuscript. W. W. Denslow illustrated it, and the story was published May 15, 1900. It became the biggest selling children’s book of the year.
Almost as soon as the story was published, there was talk of turning it into a play. On January 21, 1903, the show opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre in New York. The production ran for over 290 performances and was the longest running show of the decade.
In February of 1904, L. Frank Baum and his wife toured the Southwest, including San Diego on the California coast. The Hotel del Coronado quickly became their favorite hotel. Over the course of the following six winters, L. Frank Baum became so entranced by the hotel’s ornate architecture and the San Diego coast that he used the inspiration in several of his books.
The Coronado Playhouse is pleased to continue L. Frank Baum’s association with Coronado, by presenting the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) adaptation of the 1939 motion picture based on L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. We sincerely hope you enjoy our production and recommend it to your friends, neighbors, and family.
All items on this webpage are Copyright © 2009 by Lester Lee Dronick, The Coronado Playhouse, Tony Eisenhower, or others, all rights reserved