Follow the yellow brick road to Leominster High School this coming weekend and come watch the iconic musical Wizard of Oz.
The Leominster High School Theatre Company presents the classic tale on November 14, 15, and 16 at LHS in the Aldred Cousins Auditorium.
The show stars LHS Junior Liliana Richard as Dorothy, President of the LHS Theatre Club, LHS Junior Nathan Daniels as the Scarecrow, LHS Junior Aaron Brown as the Tin Man, and LHS Junior Aidan Hughes as the Cowardly Lion.
To add to the magic, 58 elementary students help bring Munchkin Land to life.
Including crew, 120 people are bringing the show to life.
We spoke to Theater Director and Teacher Andrea Mastroianni during rehearsals to see how the preparation was going.
Our first question, why the Wizard of Oz?
“This show is very well known and is a classic,” Mastroianni said. “It’s about the friends you meet during a long journey. It’s also a very fun process because it’s light, colorful, and the characters are not real people.”
Mastroianni explained the show includes 58 younger children starting from 4th grade and “adding the 58 children is what really sort of upped the energy.”
LHS Junior Nathan Daniels who is playing the Scarecrow said “taking something that is classic and adding the Leominster [Theatre] Company’s spin on it,” is what he enjoyed. “Since the show is a 1930 film and it’s now 2025, every person has their own little spin on their character which makes the show so beautiful.”
We admit, our first thought when we heard the size of the cast was how did they arrange all of the rehearsals with the kids? Were 58 elementary students hard to work with?
“The elementary kids are a delight,” said Nathan.
The rehearsals for the kids were scheduled on the weekends, so it wouldn’t interfere with their school time.
Mastroianni said there is real chemistry between the characters of the cast who have all worked on theater productions for years. She said it helps that they spent a lot of time together because they all know each other very well and that translates onto the stage.
Nathan said he has known Aidan Hughes who plays the Cowardly Lion since seventh grade.
The leads have practiced together for over 100 hours of rehearsals, Nathan said. They began rehearsing in September and rehearsed Mondays through Thursdays.
The auditions for this show were held on September 8, for students in grades 4 through 12th grade.
Nathan said he was blown away by the talent they saw. Students had to do singing, dancing, and acting auditions, and some were then asked to stay for callbacks where there were other people who continued to sing more songs.
Mastroianni said the audience can expect a joyful show that is a true Leominster event and people will leave wanting to see it again, so buy your tickets early and come to Leominster High School to see this amazing show.
The musical will be showing on:
Fri. Nov 14, 2025, at 7:00 pm
Sat. Nov 15, 2025, at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
You can buy your tickets online at the theatre company website: www.TheLHSTC.com
Prices vary from $ 12 -17 depending on seating location. Be aware the running time is 120 minutes and:
This venue offers accessible parking
This venue is a wheelchair accessible venue
This venue offers wheelchair accessible seating
This show has haze/fog effects
The show is Double Cast. Cast Munchkinland performs on Friday, November 14th at 7:00pm and Saturday, November 15th at 2:00pm, and Cast Emerald City will perform Saturday, November 15th at 7:00pm and Sunday, November 16th at 1:00pm.
