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How this Houston-area middle school performed a virtual, socially-distant ‘Wizard of Oz’ musical

Screenshot of the 'Wizard of Oz' musical from Westlake Prep in Richmond (Courtesy of Westlake Prep/YouTube)

RICHMOND, Texas – Students at Westlake Preparatory School’s theater class took the stage off-campus to deliver a traditional spring musical unlike any other.

Their “Wizard of Oz” school musical was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but that did not stop them from performing their show.

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The group rehearsed, used the teleconferencing tool ZOOM and green screens the school had purchased to produce and edit the musical for a YouTube audience.

“This last quarter is anything but normal,” said Westlake English-Language Arts teacher and middle school lead Alicia Maroney, “[our staff] spent hours on ZOOM each week rehearsing with our students.”

We invite you to join us TODAY and MONDAY as we stream the WPA Middle School virtual musical, The Wizard of Oz Jr. via...

Posted by Westlake Prep on Saturday, 13 June 2020

The school’s theater teacher, Courtney Johnson, wanted to make sure that their students would have an opportunity to perform, Maroney said.

The musical debuted Monday on the school’s YouTube channel.

“We had no idea what this was going to look like, we wanted to honor the students and the work they have put through the program, and to keep working towards the final production," Maroney said.

To see the musical in its entirety, click here.


About the Author

A graduate of the University of Houston-Downtown, Ana moved to H-Town from sunny southern California in 2015. In 2020, she joined the KPRC 2 digital team as an intern. Ana is a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur, a catmom of 3, and an aquarium enthusiast. In her spare time, she's an avid video gamer and loves to travel.

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