BEECH MOUNTAIN, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Confession: I’ve only seen “The Wizard of Oz,” like, four times.
If that seems like a strange statistic to keep track of, consider this: I work at a “Wizard of Oz” theme park. The Land of Oz, on top of Beech Mountain in Western North Carolina, brings the 1939 technicolor classic to life in the Appalachian Mountains, complete with a Yellow Brick Road, fully costumed performers and a whole lot of magic.
My paltry view count of “The Wizard of Oz” is unusual compared to my coworkers, many of whom are Oz superfans. Conversations about eBay bids on Oz memorabilia or infectious singing bouts of “Wicked” tracks are all too common among our Ozians. Their love and enthusiasm for the film translates to the immersive experience of the park. Every brick on their Yellow Brick Road has been laid with care.
For readers who may not have seen the film, or who have somehow avoided encountering Oz through cultural osmosis, the story follows a young girl named Dorothy Gale. Dorothy and her dog, Toto, are swept up in a tornado and find themselves in Oz, a colorful, magical land of whimsy. Dorothy joins up with new friends Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion to seek out the Wizard of Oz, who is rumored to grant wishes while avoiding the clutches of the evil Wicked Witch of the West. The green Witch wants Dorothy’s ruby red slippers which walk down the Yellow Brick Road to find the Wizard in the Emerald City after traveling over the rainbow. If you can’t tell, “The Wizard of Oz” was an early exemplar of Technicolor film.
Each chapter of the film has been recreated in the park. For every location, guests can expect a performer, an elaborate set and a mini-performance. For example, stopping at the Scarecrow Gazebo on the Yellow Brick Road would treat you to a corn field, hay bales, squawking crows and a scene where Scarecrow sings “If I Only Had a Brain” after encountering Dorothy. Afterward, guests in line for a photo op have the chance to meet Scarecrow and snap a picture with him. The process then repeats 15 minutes later.
Visitors to The Land of Oz more or less follow the path of their Dorothy performer. As Dorothy sings “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in Kansas, guests are watching her, interacting with dancing farmhands and mean Miss Gulch or purchasing kettle corn. Proceeding through the Gale house and the day-glo “tornado” room, visitors walk out into Munchkinland, where they – and Dorothy – meet Glinda the Good Witch and get their first glimpse of the Wicked Witch of the West.
The journey continues through the Scarecrow stop, past the Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, through the Witch’s Castle and Field of Poppies and into the Emerald City, a nexus of green-hued food vendors, souvenirs and a final show room, where guests watch Dorothy and her friends perform the pivotal scene from the film where the Wizard at last grants their wishes. For fans of the film, Beech Mountain is transformed into paradise, just as Kansas morphed into Oz.
For performers like myself, however, this paradise is a place of business.
Call times for Land of Oz cast members begin in the early morning, summoning performers to their makeup chairs and costume racks for their Ozian transformations. The makeup room is a tornado, full of moving bodies, tall chairs and airbrush cords.
I perform as a Winkie Guard, one of the mean green soldiers the Wicked Witch keeps at her castle – the guys who do the “oh-ee-oh” chant in the movie – and it takes roughly an hour to get my makeup and costume together. There are three Winkies total, and we each require several layers of green face paint, different shades of blue lipstick and dark eye makeup and two prosthetic pieces that are attached to our faces. Getting this all off at the end of the day is its own special experience.
The performances themselves are on a rotating schedule. Only two Winkies will be guarding the Wicked Witch at a time, for instance. Each performer also brings their own flavor of improvisational character work to the job. While there are certain short scenes that the players put on, most of the job comes in interacting with each of the hundreds of guests who visit Oz. Every performer has their own bits, catchphrases and personalities when it comes to engaging with guests during photo ops or on the Yellow Brick Road.
For a Winkie Guard, a character without a scene to perform, it is all improv, all the time. Guests who come to visit the Wicked Witch may find themselves waiting in line, and the line is where the Winkies are stationed. It is our job to craft a memorable experience for waiting guests. We each do this without a script and often stationed apart from one another. When guests are in our vicinity, we are “on” the entire time.
While I will jokingly tell anyone that my favorite part of being a Winkie is seeing how many kids I can make cry with just my mean mug alone – I had a record-setting 10 in one day last year – these audience interactions are far and away what brings me back to Oz every year. There is an undeniable magic in watching visitors light up when they see you, laugh when you engage with them and thrill to snap a photo with your character. It is a willful suspension of disbelief for everyone involved. Improving the scene is easy because the audience is doing it too.
There is so much else to say about the incredibly talented management team or costume designers or fellow performers at Oz, but much of it is worth experiencing for yourself. Even though the park is a recreation of a film many have seen countless times, it still feels like a discovery to be there. The Appalachian Mountains have a treasure chest of emeralds buried in them, and X marks the spot on Beech Mountain.
For more information about The Land of Oz or to purchase tickets for Autumn at Oz, visit their website, www.landofoznc.com.