The Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center will screen "The Wizard of Oz” for the movie’s 85th anniversary while the Alabama Symphony Orchestra plays the music score live.
Performances will be on Tuesday, Oct. 15 and Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Woltosz Theatre, which seats over 1,200 guests.
Auburn's modernist fiction and film class focused on studying several key themes throughout the "Wizard of Oz" this semester. The students will present their research live before both shows using related pictures in the lobby of the Gogue starting at 6 p.m.
Patrons will be given free admission to the show on Wednesday, Oct. 16 if they show up in costume. Wizard of Oz outfits are encouraged but not required.
A costume contest on Oct. 16 will be held in the lobby at 6:15 p.m. with prizes for the first, second and third place winners, determined by applause.
Concessions will be sold separately in the lobby for all visitors as well.
To order a ticket, people can visit the Gogue website, call the box office at 334-844-8497, email gpactickets@auburn.edu or visit the box office in person.
The Gogue offers Auburn University students limited $20 tickets. Students can buy their tickets by signing in with their Auburn credentials on the Gogue's website.
Students can also get free tickets by calling the box office to see if any have been returned by season ticket holders.
Each season, the Gogue has a highly talented performance season with the schedule being planned out years in advance. Auburn’s premier performing arts center has seen Broadway shows, musicians, magicians and much more.
“[The] primary focus is, of course, bringing performing arts to Auburn University and to the community," said Jonathan Osborne, the director of communications and marketing at the Gogue.
The “Wizard of Oz” performance and other future film showings with live orchestras have been in the works for several years thanks to an endowment from Ron Sanders, Auburn alum and former Warner Brothers employee.
“Live orchestra with film is something that’s celebrated all over the world. It’s something really cool to do, and for us to be able to do it every year or every other year is something that we wanted to do for a long period of time," commented Christopher Heacox, the executive director of the Gogue.
The score has been completely removed from this version of the “Wizard of Oz” to allow the audience to fully hear the instrumentation.
The music will be played by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the only full-time professional orchestra in the state of Alabama.
The ASO is a part of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians, a communicative resource for the top orchestras in the country, including the New York Philharmonic.
Residents can see the orchestra play all throughout the state, almost every week from September through May.
The orchestra receives a show’s music two to three weeks before the performance and the ensemble typically only has two to four rehearsals to practice that music together. For example, the ASO will start practice on Oct. 14th and 15th for the "Wizard of Oz" show.
The Gogue and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra have had a working relationship ever since the opening of the performing arts center in 2019 when the ASO helped tune the Woltosz Theatre.
“The range of emotions that an orchestra plays with is really spectacular,” said Christopher Confessore, the principal POPS conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to being ASO’s “Popular Music Director,” Confessore is also the principal conductor of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra in Brevard County, Florida.
He has guest-conducted multiple orchestras across the country and regularly conducts the Candlelight Processional in Walt Disney World’s EPCOT.
“Whether it’s your first time, or, you know, 20th time seeing the movie, the live score [will] give you a greater appreciation for how much music was actually composed,” Confessore said.
Lisa Wienhold, principal flutist of the ASO, has been with the orchestra for 32 years.
Wienhold, born in Germany and raised in Alaska, got her degree at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University.
“It’s kind of two for the price of one. You get to hear an orchestra concert and see a great movie at the same time” Wienhold said.
Wienhold continues to enjoy being a part of the orchestra because she gets to share great music with the people of Alabama year after year. The Alabama Symphony Orchestra will soon be sharing music with Auburn.
Jonathan Osborne could not exclaim enough about how great the experience will be in a few days.
“The 'Wizard of Oz' is certainly a film that I think resonates with people of all ages,” Osborne said. “It’s an award winning score -- but to hear that live is just gonna be incredible.”
No matter the case, this performance is going to be a fun one for Auburn University students and community members who want to take a trip to the land of Oz.
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Sam Bainter, freshman in English language arts education, is a culture writer for The Auburn Plainsman.
