06/02/2026
Congratulations to the cast and crew of CQA's production of The Wizard of Oz! After months of rehearsals, hard work and preparations, they pulled off the most amazing show for classmates, families and our community!
CQA's theater program has received its first review! Professional actor and former acting teacher with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Jonas Cohen, was in the audience on Saturday and wrote a wonderful review of the show that he's allowed us to share with our community.
Cast, crew, directors, and support team, be very proud of what you created together. You took us from our gym in Elmhurst and transported us to Oz and it was magical!
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The Wizard of OZ (Central Queens Academy Charter Schools)
How do you create a tornado in a school gym?
How do you turn a stuffed dog into a real companion?
How do you transport an audience from Queens, New York, to Oz and the Emerald City?
And most of all, how do Artists solve impossible problems?
Answer: with imagination and a hundred small acts of creativity.
As I sat watching this production of The Wizard of Oz for Central Queens Academy Charter School, I found myself glancing over at directors Nicole Wang and my friend Carl Hsu, who had kindly invited me to see their work. I kept noticing them standing near the soundboard, quietly mouthing reminders and words of encouragement to the cast. Watching him and Nicole guide dozens of young performers through songs, choreography, costume changes, entrances, exits, scene changes, and all the controlled chaos that comes with making Theater reminded me that the real achievement isn’t the performance. The miracle is the process.
That's the thing audiences, and perhaps parents most of all, don't always get to see.
Long before the tornado appeared, long before Dorothy arrived in Oz, long before the applause at curtain call, these young performers spent weeks and months learning how to collaborate, listen, memorize, trust one another, solve problems, take risks, and stand in front of an audience to be seen.
Carl and Nicole didn't simply direct a musical. They created a temporary community. Under their guidance, a group of young people learned how to make something larger than themselves. And that may be the most meaningful thing theater does.
The production itself was filled with joy and inventive theatricality. A tornado was created with rolling racks and curtains. Toto began the evening as a stuffed dog in Kansas and became a full-sized companion in Oz. A school gymnasium became the Emerald City. Black-and-white turned to color. A room full of children became Munchkins, crows, flying monkeys, and citizens of Oz.
The ensemble’s ex*****on of “We Welcome You To Munchkinland” and "The Jitterbug" were exquisite. So much so that the latter song demands a reappraisal of why that song was ever cut from the final film.
The Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Glinda, Auntie Em, Toto, the Wicked Witch, and the Wizard were all delightful.
What lingered most, however, was Dorothy.
The role is enormous for any young performer. There were moments when the weight of that responsibility showed, but what ultimately remained was her sense of wonder. The moment Dorothy arrived in Oz and the moment she returned home both landed with genuine emotional clarity.
The image was almost cinematic: a girl stepping into a world bigger and stranger than anything she had ever known and later returning home to see it with new eyes.
Perhaps it’s seeing this show on the anniversary of my mother’s passing that has me feeling so reflective. But whatever the reason, this production unexpectedly brought to mind one of the central lessons of The Wizard of Oz.
The Scarecrow couldn't see his intelligence. The Tin Man couldn't see his heart. The Lion couldn't see his courage. Dorothy couldn't see that she already possessed the power to get home. They all had what they needed all along. It’s something my mother tried to inculcate in me most of my life.
The tragedy is that none of them believed it. The beauty is that someone finally told them. And if I’m being honest, it’s something that my mother shared with me in the last months before she passed.
For a couple of hours, a school gymnasium in Queens became Oz. Rolling racks became a tornado. A stuffed dog became Toto. Children became heroes. The ordinary became magical. And somewhere over the rainbow, I felt a little closer to home.
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