A Word from Andrew Cole, TPAC Communications and Community Relations Consultant Superstar
I think I can trace my deep-rooted love for theater back to the moment I first saw The Wizard of Oz on stage as an impressionable five-year old in Houston, TX. Sure, watching Dorothy open that black-and-white farmhouse door was a sight to behold on the television screen, but my eyes were opened to an entirely new level of wonder when the magical land of Oz burst forth in glorious color about fifty feet from my face. Oz was real! From then on, an obsession with everything Oz dominated the majority of my childhood. I made my way through the fourteen original books by L. Frank Baum and somehow found excuses to keep dressing up as the characters when each subsequent Halloween rolled around (I think I may still have the slammin‚ homemade Tin Man costume to prove it!).
The story's universal message of courage, friendship and the power of home is as compelling today as it has been for the last century, still wrapped up in one unabashedly entertaining package. It was with good reason that the American Film Institute named Over the Rainbow‰ the greatest movie song of all time. What better way to share the magic of theater with the young (and the young at heart) than with this lavish new production of The Wizard of Oz skipping its way to TPAC next January!
Andrew Cole
TPAC Communications and Community Relations Consultant Superstar
