The Sooner Theatre is celebrating its 10th year of summer camp productions with the performance of The Wizard of Oz. The cast consists of student’s aged 8 to 13.

“It’s our second time to do Wizard of Oz, and we just had such a magical time with it last time we did it, and we decided we would do that for our 10-year [anniversary],” said Jennifer Baker, Sooner Theatre’s executive director.

“Actually we called two years ago to reserve the rights so that we would have it.”

New to the show this year: flying characters by Flying by Foy.

“They’re going to come in and work with us so we can have that special effect to the show,” Baker said.

The program has grown steadily over the years. A separate summer camp has been created for students ages 13 to 18, who will perform a show later this summer.

“We had to split and do two camps and then that led into opening the studio down the street, and we started doing classes and productions year-round,” Baker said. “So it just busted at the seams.”

While participation in most shows at Sooner Theatre are based on a sign-up, the summer camp is an auditioned production.

“Over 200 kids will show up, and they do go through a lengthy audition and callback process,” she said. “Everyone here is so kind and helpful to the kids, so they never feel like its just torture. It's fun.”

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