The Wizard of Oz

Guest Reviewed by Nora Gift

Introduction: Nora Gift is exactly that, a gift. A 21-year-old Down Syndrome young lady, she graduated from The Denver School of the Arts, participates in Junior Olympics in ice-skating and gymnastics, and has just started her third year of dance classes with Debbie Stark at Dance Kaleidoscope. Nora’s infectious zest for life affects everyone who comes into contact with her. An exceptional supportive family surrounds her: her parents Andy and Marsha, her 13-year-old sister, Emma, 9-year-old brother, Joe, and Jack, a “rebarkable” Black Labrador Retriever. For two years I worked with Nora through Community Intersections, and now continue working with her on a completely different level. Recently I took her to Boulder’s Dinner Theatre to see their production of The Wizard of Oz. Nora loves homework. I asked her to write a review of the show. Previously, she has written one or two sentences. This time she wrote a page and a half. She even asked Marsha for a dictionary to look up the meaning and spelling of critique. Because of her hard work and thoughtfulness, it seemed her review deserved more exposure than just being confined in her workbook in the back seat of my car. She has a voice, and she needs to be heard. She’s a gift. She’s a prize. We all win because of her.

Scott Beyette as the Scarecrow, John Scott Clough as the Tin Man and Emily Van Fleet as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at Boulder’s Dinner Theatre.

I like the play and I really like it a lot. I like how they all dressed with their costumes. Their costumes were really cute, and when they were actually acting I just bet they are really good, I think that Dorothy was, I think, was OK good, but I think she was scared of the Wizard of Oz, but the Scarecrow was really good and the Tin Man was good, and the Lion, like I thought about the Lion, what I think about that is, was a lot more scared of the Oz, cause when he was saying he was speechless, I somehow didn’t know about it. So back to Dorothy. When she got up to the witch’s castle, was she afraid of the witch’s place? I like the witch when she just had the broomstick. When she melts right away, the laugh was scary and loud. So the munchkins costumes were really pretty and also cute too. I think the munchkins were pretty “actfull” really good. The setting, the lights were perfect.