Artistic Director's Notes

The Yellow Brick Road of The Wiz has been lined with its share of ups, downs and tricky turns. It required a great amount of know-how, dedication and spirit from our volunteer and staff base to arrive where it is today. The Wiz is, at its heart, an enduring story of transition. In Dorothy’s transition, she first acquires knowledge, then compassion and finally, the courage to put it all together. All she needs is to be open to possibility and stay on the right path.

Growing up in the modern world seems quite a different experience from 30 years ago. The foundation of growth appears the same; testing limits, acquiring facts, and understanding how experiences move us are essential to development. But, finding the right path and staying on it seems much more challenging today. Not that it wasn’t a challenge more years ago than I care to remember, but today’s world presents added burdens of overcrowded schools, necessity of two working parents, and shrinking public funding for children’s programs. These and other factors often leave our transitioning youth to their own devices. Worse, it leaves them open to opportunists who would like to lead them down a bad path. Thankfully, we have organizations which subsist on private funding offering safe havens and guidance for youngsters in our communities.

Pied Piper Players is a company which continues to grow. Amongst our Board, staff, volunteers, donors, and actors we have our share of people with brains, heart and courage. It is through these members’ efforts that Pied Piper Players, Inc. is able to provide low-cost, entertaining family theater. Their guidance allows us to continue our partnership with the Daly City Peninsula Partnership Collaborative, with whom we provide free, after-school arts enrichment programs in Daly City and South San Francisco. It is our aim to provide an atmosphere which cultivates individual growth which in turn contributes to an enriched society!!

We thank you for coming out to enjoy the story of one young person’s transformation and invite you to join us as volunteer, actor, donor or cheerleader to help keep Pied Piper Players on the right path as we ease on down the road toward a greater good for all of us.

--- Leslie A. Stupple