Yellow Brick Road comes our way this weekend in 'The Wiz'

By Melanie Barker, correspondent

The teenage performers in Regent University’s summer theater camp don’t need to visit “The Wiz” for advice; they have plenty of mentors right on campus.

Most of the staff behind the camp’s production of “The Wiz,” which opens  Friday night  on Regent’s main stage, are current or former graduate students of the university’s theater arts program.

“Our summer theater camp is first and foremost for the kids, but it also gives our MFA (Master of Fine Arts) students the opportunity to teach and direct,” said Beth Litwak, who earned her master’s in educational theater at Regent and serves as the camp’s coordinator.

Ryan Clemens, who graduated this year from Regent’s MFA program, is directing “The Wiz.” He said the show updates the 1975 Broadway musical version of “The Wizard of Oz” for today’s world.

“It’s an energetic, colorful, funk-filled retelling of the story for a multicultural, multi­media society,” Clemens said.

For example, Clemens said that when Dorothy arrives in Oz, one of the good witches is a Lady Gaga-esque character who uses an iPad to verify Dorothy’s identity on Facebook.

Clemens added that the characters will “ease on down the road” with the help of GPS.

Clemens, who has directed and acted in previous shows at Regent, plans to continue working with young people in theater.

Starting this fall, he will be the director of education for the Virginia Stage Company’s outreach program to schools in the Hampton Roads area.

Andy Geffken, 24, a third-year MFA student who serves as acting teacher for “The Wiz” camp, has also decided to pursue theater education.

“I didn’t even know I could teach until I did it at last summer’s camp,” said Geffken, who has performed in several Regent shows; most recently he played Jesus in the university’s spring production of “Godspell.”

Geffken said that because the public is already familiar with “The Wiz” characters, he and Clemens worked with the young actors to create something different and applicable to today’s audiences.

For instance, the Lion will adopt a “Johnny Bravo” swagger along with his courage. The Wiz will have science nerd “Napoleon Dynamite” qualities. And one of the flying monkeys might bear a resemblance to “The Terminator.” John Mark Bowman, 18, who plays that flying monkey, has been so impressed with Regent’s theater camp that he will attend the university in the fall.

“We’re learning from teachers who are in college and grad school now, at the peak of their learning experience; everything is fresh in their heads, and they’re giving it to us,” Bowman said.

The production even features a mentor actor: Whitney Rappana, 23, a second-year MFA student, plays Evillene, the musical’s version of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Michael Salsbury, a second-year MFA student, is the voice teacher and music director. Amy Dunlap, also a second-year MFA student, is the dance teacher and choreographer.

“The level of expectation for professionalism in this camp is higher than any high school show I’ve been involved with,” said Dunlap.

“These kids are getting a college-level educational experience and they’re expected to perform at that level – and they rise to the challenge,” Dunlap said.

“The Wiz”  will be performed at the Regent University Main Theatre, Communication Arts Building, Centerville Turnpike and CBN Center Drive on 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10, adults; $8, children 5-12. For more information, call 352-4245 or visit www.regent.edu/summercamps.

Melanie Barker is a freelance writer who covers Virginia Beach for the Beacon section of The Virginian-Pilot.