Sno-King Chorale melds 3 sides of Oz

It’s a history of pop culture’s most popular wizard done in song, costumes and choreography.

That about sums up the Sno-King Community Chorale’s last concert of their 2010 season, where selections from the blockbuster Broadway hit “Wicked” along with tunes from “The Wiz” and “The Wizard of Oz” will re-create the musical magic from the Land of Oz.

The 100-voice chorale, under the direction of Frank DeMiero, will present tunes from this trilogy of musicals, stitching together hits including “Over the Rainbow,” “Popular,” “Ease on Down the Road,” “When I Meet the Wizard” and “Home.”

The focal theme for the evening will be how these three shows are connected. That theme will be brought to life with music, dance and of course costumes, as Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man all play their parts to sing the story.

DeMiero said these singers not only have strong voices but they are also characters in their own right, describing the man who plays Scarecrow as a cabaret-style type and the Tin Man as a guy so excited about his role that he came to the audition in a tin hat.

“We’re doing vignettes from the shows and what we accent is the music,” DeMiero said.

The medley from “Wicked” will include the hits “For Good” and “Defying Gravity.” The list of songs from “The Wiz” will include “Slide Some Oil To Me,” “I’m a Mean Ole Lion” and “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News,” DeMiero said.

“Over the Rainbow” will be among the primary songs of the show, a song that almost got cut from the musical’s original production.

“It came down to where composer Harold Arlen said, ‘You either do this tune or forget it,’” DeMiero said.

Sno-King Community Chorale will do “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Edmonds Center for the Arts, 410 Fourth Ave. N., Edmonds.

Tickets are $15, $13 and $5. Call 425-275-9595 or go to ec4arts.org or www.sno-kingchorale.org.

Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424; goffredo@heraldnet.com.