‘Ballarat shone with emerald and ruby as the Wizard of Oz came to Her Majesty’s Theatre, but opening night had a couple of extras that were maybe not quite as classically trained as the rest of the cast. Power FM Ballarat’s brekkie duo Alex and LJ (Alex Newman and Lara Jean Marshall)were invited be a part of the cast for opening night of BLOC Music Theatre’s staging of the classic musical in the ‘esteemed’ roles of Ozian #1 and Ozian #2. 

Quickly accepting the roles after being offered them on-air while chatting with Director Gareth Grainger, the truth sunk in when it was then revealed the parts came with a line, some singing and a dance in the finale!

The next two weeks in the lead up to opening night involved dancing and singing lessons, dress rehearsals, and costume fittings resulting in a mix of hilarious social media videos. 

On-air the duo searched for their cheerleaders/entourage for the night, giving out family passes to opening night. While LJ had an esteemed history in the ways of acting and singing as an alum of The Saddle Club, Alex unfortunately was a professional screecher. Luckily, LJ’d good friend Alicia Banit (of Dance Academy and Summer Heights High fame) gave them both some advice on-air for the night and how to deal with the nerves. 

No Wizard of Oz coverage would be complete without a chat with the star of the show, TOTO! The megastar graced the studio with his presence and was a brilliant speaker (see below video). 

Opening night arrived and, of course, so did all the butterflies. Thankfully, it all went to plan (as far as the audience could tell), whether Alex & LJ will be invited back for the next production remains to be seen. ‘