LAKEPORT — This is the final weekend of “The Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum, presented by the Mendocino College Lake Center”s performance and production class and Lake County Theater Company (LCTC).
The role of Dorothy is being performed by Claire Arido, a member of LCTC for five years. Arido said that beside Dorothy, her favorite role was as Charlie Brown. Arido is a Lakeport resident and is a student at Mendocino College. She has taken voice lessons since she was 8 and loves to swim, read and play the guitar. Having always admired Dorothy, even dressing up as her for Halloween, Arido said she loves the fact that she gets to play this part and feels that everything comes around full circle.
C. Richard Smith plays Professor Marvel and the Wizard and has been acting since the age of 12. He has acted in many theater companies but has only been involved in this one for three months as a member of the performance and production class. Smith said his favorite role was as Sky Masterson in “Guys and Dolls.” A Kelseyville resident, Smith is a semi-retired university professor who teaches part time.
Smith said he loves to sail and is the proud parent of three children and grandfather to 11 grandchildren. Smith said the thing he likes most about “The Wizard of Oz” is that it is fun for all ages.
Aunt Em is performed by Cyndy Forbes, a native of Richmond and a UC Berkeley graduate, working after graduation in the corporate world. At Age 50 Forbes went back to school and became a nurse and has been a medical volunteer in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and in Guatemala. Her theater experience includes musical theater in the Bay Area, as well as for LCTC in “Nunsense” and “Rocky Horror.”
When not performing Forbes works at Sutter Lakeside Hospital in the emergency department and helps her husband with their vineyard here in Lake County. A mother of three and grandmother to four, she also enjoys kayaking and yoga.
Show times for “The Wizard of Oz” are 7 p.m. today and Friday with a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday. Reserved tickets are $15 for adults and $13 for members, seniors and students. General seating is $12 for adults and $10 for members, seniors and students. Reserved and general seating tickets are available at Catfish Books, 1013 11th St. in Lakeport, 263-4454. General seating can be purchased at Griffin”s Furniture, 14409 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake, 994-2112.
