Meet Toto

The final cast member for The Wizard of Oz was selected on Saturday.  With the help of Dr. Lyn Johnson and the Bartlesville Obedience Club, 8 hopeful canine contenders were put through auditions.  The competition was keen, but one black and white Pomeranian stood out from the crowd. 

Welcome "Eli" owned by Julie McKinney to the cast as Toto.  The runnerup was "Rosie" a Shihtzu owned by Barbara Sattich.  Thanks to all the competitors who made it a fun audition event!  An additional benefit of the day was that our SPCA auditioner, "Gypsy" found an owner and a new home!  So in many respects, it was a successful event.  We are excited about the prospects that Eli brings to the role of Toto, as his training will be put to good use on the stage.

"The Wizard of Oz" will be presented July 16-19 at the Bartlesville Community Center. Directed by Cranston Dodds, choreography by Lesley Jennings, musical direction by Kathleen Hensley and Marjolene Gravley, and orchestra conducted by Wes Singleton.

An 11,200 square foot building is available near downtown Bartlesville that would be a perfect home for CMT! For some time, we have wanted to have a place of our own that would provide areas for office, practice, storage, and set construction. Such a building is now available: storage/construction area with dock access, a large rehearsal space equal to the Community Center’s stage, and a heated/air conditioned portion for offices and rehearsal rooms. With just a little remodeling, it quickly becomes our home. It’s a perfect fit.

Why is this important to us? Right now we rent office space, storage space, and have auditions and rehearsals in various locations that hopefully have rooms available when we need them. A home base would allow us to schedule events when it’s best for students, work on sets/costumes well before productions, and most importantly, add new programs in addition to our main summer production.

Our campaign is for purchasing the building, renovating the needed areas, helping with some operational expenses, and securing the future by adding to our endowment fund. Our $480,000 goal equates to only $43.00 per square foot. That’s a great bargain in today’s market. I am asking you to consider being part of this effort to bring musical theatre for children to a new level. How many square feet can you help us buy with your tax-deductible donation?

We don’t want the curtain to go down on this opportunity. By working together we can “set the stage for tomorrow.” For a downloadable brochure about the building fund, make sure you have the free Adobe Acrobat reader installed on your computer, and click here. To see the floor plan of the new building, click here.