THOMASVILLE — Thomasville City Schools drama program will present “The Wizard of Oz” this weekend at the MacIntyre Auditorium.

Performances will be held at 7 p.m. March 1 and 2 and at 2 p.m. March 3.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and can be purchased at the Scholars Academy front office.

The March 2 performance will be followed by a “children’s matinee,” allowing audience members to take pictures and receive autographs from the cast members. Additional activities include face painting and games with lead characters.

Performances in the annual spring musical will include approximately 90 students ranging from grades 6 to 12.

Director Casey Dyksterhouse said the play marks the largest cast ever assembled for the annual spring musical.

“I’m looking forward for the community to see how amazingly talented these kids are,” Dyksterhouse said.

The lead role of Dorothy Gale will be performed by senior Morgan Savatgy.

Seniors London Weier, Sebastian James and Zack Artz will perform the Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion, respectively.

Mallory Singletary will play Glinda the Good Witch and Emily Dixon will play the Wicked Witch of the West. Hannah Ouzts will play the titular role, the Wizard of Oz.

Additional performers include Jax Hodge as the Emerald City Guard, Maya Tedford as Aunt Em, Reid Harbin as the Munchkin Mayor, Ellie Griffin as the Munchkin Coroner and Braxton Sizemore as the Munchkin Barrister.

Dyksterhouse, a drama instructor at THS, said she has taught most of the performers in her classes.

The director said as a result she already had an idea of each performer’s skill level, particularly the core group of seniors leading the play, who have been in her class since they were in 6th grade.

“They’re unbelievable,” Dyksterhouse said of the lead performers. “They’ve got great voices and they’re very outgoing. They perfectly fit the the Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tinman and Dorothy.”

Dyksterhouse said the performers had been working on the play for approximately three months.

Twice a week musical rehearsals began before Christmas with Dyksterhouse instructing the performers on blocking and movements.

“There’s literally a rehearsal every day, but it may be one day is a music rehearsal, one day is a dance rehearsal, one day is a blocking rehearsal,” Dyksterhouse said. “The leads are literally here every day.”

Dyksterhouse said in the week leading up to the play performers were rehearsing each day from 3-10 p.m.

The production features choreography from THS dance instructor Alison Bundrick and musical accompaniment provided by musical director Tom Whiddon.

“There’s a dream team behind the whole production,” Dyksterhouse said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Dance, vocal and script-reading auditions began in December before the Christmas break and featured more than 90 entrants.

Dyksterhouse said Whiddon provided input during the audition process by evaluating singing voices.

The director said every student who auditioned was given a role in some capacity.

“I’m trying to get the younger kids, even if they’re just in one number, to really get excited about theater,” Dyksterhouse said.

Students were expected to return from Christmas break knowing all of their lines without the script.

The director said she couldn’t wait for the community to see the completed production.

“I’m looking forward to people seeing how talented (the performers) are, what a great program we have and just the magic of the story,” Dyksterhouse said. “‘The Wizard of Oz’ is a classic and everybody knows it, so just to make it fun there are some surprises that you wouldn’t normally see.”