Ensights Magazine

the Wiz high school

High School Musical Recap: The Wiz

Shawn Knight, Director
The High School Arts Department presented the Wiz in the spring of 2019. The musical's director, Shawn Knight, shares his reflections on the performances.

The Wiz, the 1975 retelling of the classic The Wizard of Oz, may express Dorothy’s journey to Oz in a different way from the original movie musical, but the story remains the same. A young girl is desperately seeking for a place she fits in, for adventures with friends who love and understand her. She takes a fantastical journey that ultimately leads her right back to where she started, with a new sense of appreciation and marvel at who she is and the strength she has found inside her. 
 
Growing up is hard, no matter where one is in the process. We navigate our shifting worlds, and as much change as we see around us, the changes inside are even more unsettling. We often feel like we have nowhere to turn, that we’re alone, that even the people we love the most—the Aunt Ems in our lives—could never really understand us. Maybe that’s so. And maybe, on top of all that, we demand a perfection (of ourselves and of those we love the most) that is impossible to achieve. And when we fail to achieve that perfection, it’s easy to give up...on goals and dreams and relationships. Or worse yet, our flaws lead us in desperation to craft an image of being in complete control, utterly together all the time, needing no help from anyone else.
 
We live in a distracted age, and that has consequences. Sometimes, those distractions keep us from seeing the love that surrounds us. Sometimes, we don’t even look up from our phones to see the person standing in front of us, supporting us, cheering for us, desperately wanting to connect with us. Sometimes, we find a reality in the distractions and inaccuracies of social media, where everyone carefully crafts a reality that is, in fact, not very real. The Wizard of Oz creates an image, an image that—in our current day and age—would no doubt be intentionally curated on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. But when we look behind the image, what is there?
 
Relationships, even among family and friends, take work and commitment and dedication. They require us to be vulnerable and open and trusting. That’s how our traveling friends make it through. Together, they find they have more strength in their care for and connection with each other than any of them do alone. We know the Scarecrow has always had brains, the Tin Man has always had a heart, the Lion has always had courage, and Dorothy has always been able to find her way home. But it takes friends to unlock each of those things, to give us the brains and heart and courage to embrace who we are and be open to loving those around us fully. And that’s what most of us long for—a place where we feel loved, seen, and heard. That is HOME.


Back

Share This Article

List of 4 news stories.

Red Gables Campus (K–8)

Nashville, TN 37205
(615) 383-0661

Frist Campus (9–12)

Nashville, TN 37221
(615) 301-5400
Ensworth is a coeducational, kindergarten through twelfth grade, independent day school.