St Mary's Wizard of Oz production wows audiences

St Mary's Catholic Primary School pupils practised hard and took to the stage this week to wow family and friends with their school production.

The school performed its production of Wizard of Oz at a matinee show on Tuesday, as well as sold-out evening performances on Tuesday and last night.

Director Shirley Young said it had been well organised and there had been supportive staff and parents.

In the main cast there were 123 pupils, and the whole school was involved with singing.

Ms Young said she liked the story of The Wizard of Oz and it had a lot of entertaining features such as soloists, dancing and moving songs.

"There are some lovely songs we have in here for the choir and soloists."

She said these shows were unique because they had a speech choir as well as a singing one.

"The reason I love doing these shows is because it's such an exciting forum and opportunity for children to strut their stuff and gain confidence.

"A lot of the children involved in this level go on and it's an experience they never forget."

She said they had rehearsed for six weeks, about three days a week.

Alo Vulu-Lafu, 11, who played the lion in The Wizard of Oz said it had been cool getting ready for the production and he was inspired by Ms Young.

He said he had been nervous and excited for the shows, but his mother had told him to do his best.

Alo said this was his first time being in the school's production, and he enjoyed acting, miming and singing.