Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Oklahoma City

By Darren Brown, News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!  In the Civic Center?  We're talking about costumes of course, when the Oklahoma City Ballet presents its final performance of the season. 

"The Wizard of Oz", with all its characters, colors and even special effects will be brought to the ballet stage this weekend.

Oklahoma City Ballet Master Jacob Parso choreographed the show.  He understands the challenges of bringing such a timeless story to the ballet stage.

"We have a great music score from a friend of mine, Kermit Poling and he's gonna be here to conduct," Parso said.  "His score literally tells a story in his music, and so it's easy to follow, and it was easy for me to choreograph."

But he also wants to stay true to the universally-seen movie.

"Everybody wants to see monkeys fly," said Parso.  "So we have to bring a team from Vegas here to come and rig up the whole flying system and safety so we can fly dancers and scenery."

Emily Fine portrays the Wicked Witch of the West, and says the witch was always her favorite part of the movie. 

"Her nose, and the chin, and the green, it's just so creepy," Fine said.  "I just wanted to be her.  I get to fly with my broom."

Stephanie Foraker portrays Dorothy in the production.  She's seen the movie numerous times also, but her favorite part was different.

"The ruby red slippers was my favorite," Foraker said. 

And Foraker actually gets to wear ruby red slippers in the production.

"It's such a classic character that you wanna do it justice, you wanna do it right," she said.

PERFORMANCES OF OKLAHOMA CITY BALLET'S ORIGINAL PRODUCTION OF "THE WIZARD OF OZ" ARE MARCH 27 AND 28 AT 8:00 P.M., AND MARCH 29 AT 2:00 P.M.  FOR MORE INFO, CALL 297-2264, OR VISIT www.balletoklahoma.com