According to Joan Ascherl, vocal and theater director, a cast of more than 100 students are part of the school’s annual presentation.

“I’ve been doing this for 40 years, and it’s so rewarding and fulfilling,” she said. “Working with the kids really rejuvenates me.”

The show stars Gretta Pratt as Dorothy; Harper Lampe as the Wicked Witch; Chloe Harrison as Linda The Good Witch; Mark Crow as the Scarecrow; Ezra Schoess as the Tin Man; Nolan Lawler as the Lion; and Korbin Jones playing the Wizard of Oz.

Curtain times are 7 p.m. March 5 – 6 and 2 p.m. March 7, at the Fort Dodge Middle School Auditorium, 800 N. 32nd St.. All seating is reserved with tickets available at www.gobound.com/ia/schools/fortdodge/tickets.

Ascherl noted that the run time is about an hour with a short intermission included.

“We will be selling baked goods and offering water to the audience at that time,” she said. “Proceeds will go to the choir boosters.”

“This is the youth edition of the production,” she added. “It’s a bit shorter than the full Broadway musical.”

Ascherl added that members of the show have been working on it since the first full week of January.

“We cast it two weeks before Christmas,” she said. “From there, scripts went out over holiday break for the students to go through. We’ve been having rehearsals daily after school until 4 p.m., but those will increase to 5:30 p.m. as we get closer.”

It’s an especially memorable event for the long-time director, as she is retiring from the district at the end of the school year.

“I just feel like it’s time to move on to something else,” she said. “I will miss the time spent with the students on the productions.”

If You Go

What: Fort Dodge Middle

School production of

“Wizard of Oz”

When: 7 p.m. March 5-6,

2 p.m. March 7

Where: Fort Dodge

Middle School,

800 N. 32nd St.