For the first time in more than a year, a live performance will take place on the auditorium stage. “The Wizard of Oz” will be presented on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 3 at 2 p.m.

Admission is free, and students will use the same EventLink app for attending athletic events for admission to the play. 

After struggling to find a ticketing company to replace the old one which folded last year, theater department chair Mr. Michael Moffatt said, “(Athletics Director Mr. Rick Streiff) reached out to me and (said), ‘Hey, I’ve got this new ticketing system that I think you might like, too, where people just get a barcode and they scan it and they can walk right through,’ so we’re trying that out for our first show.” 

Technical problems have popped up ahead of opening night. “The lighting dimmer system — there are 96 dimmers that control all the lights — a bunch of water went into it because there was a leak from our roof,” said Moffatt. “The leak unfortunately channelled all the water right on top of the dimmer rack, so the dimmer rack is not working. It’s still in the middle of drying out. Unfortunately, there’s still water pooled up on the roof of the theater, so it’s slowly dripping still. We can’t reenergize it until all of the water’s away because it’s so dangerous.”

The storm that flooded the lights occurred on Sept. 22, barely over a week before opening night. Moffat said, “We are front lighting just with follow spot. Luckily, we have a lot of light crew people. They are using follow spots to do the front light. And then we still have the capability to of lighting the backdrop and we can do backlighting of actors.” 

The lights should be fixed by the fall play, “The Clumsy Custard Horror Show,” but delays may last longer than have typically occurred in the past. Moffatt said, “Due to Covid, things are going slower than usual, either capacitors aren’t being made for the dimmers or supply chains for copper, (for items such as) copper wire — it’s just crazy.”

Theater director Ms. K.T. Peterson said, “Please support this support this theater program as it grows, because we’re all learning how to set up our lives again and do beautiful things with art and come see a bunch of students. This is all theirs, this is their project, so come see it and support it.”