FIVE local Gawler girls are set to play a role in the upcoming Wizard of Oz Arena spectacular in early October.

The girls, most of which attend Hewett Primary School, will be one part of an over 700-strong cast.

Mother of Amity and Sierra, Tes Hansen, said the opportunity first came about through an advertisement online.

“I saw the callout on Facebook for South Australia children aged nine and above to be a part of the production and thought it would be a great opportunity for my daughters and her friends,” she said.

“After applying they had to go through several stages of auditions and tryouts and they recently completed a two-day boot camp.”

The girls aren’t new to performances or rehearsals, with most of them having been involved with Dance Crew SA, a local dance club based in Evanston Gardens, for almost 10 years.

The girls don’t seem to be fazed at all by the significance of the event though, as Sophie Hutchins explained her excitement for the show.

“I’m not really nervous because I’ll be dancing and singing — which is what I love to do — and I’m excited to be doing that at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre,” she said.

“I also get the chance to perform in front of my biggest audience yet.”

The large-scale arena production will use state-of-theart LED screen technology to bring the land of Oz to life and features all the songs and characters audiences love from the original film.

With over 3,000 individual costumes, 2,000 wigs, a stage the size of three basketball courts, and over 700 performers, this is the largest production of Oz ever staged.

The girls will get to play a mixture of Munchkins, Winkies, Jitterbugs and Poppies along with 400 other South Australian children.

The production will have its opening night at the Entertainment Centre on Friday October 12.