Parish Episcopal third-grader Sarah Siddons turned her passion for dancing into a summer filled with following the yellow brick road in the Dallas Summer Musical production of “The Wizard Oz.”

After dozens auditioned, Siddons was among 12 actors selected to be Munchkins from schools across Dallas including Parish, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Hockaday, Bradfield and Nebbie Williams elementary schools. The girls ranged in age from eight to 13 and were on stage during the entire MunchkinLand scene and performed "The Witch is Dead" and "Follow the Yellow Brick Road."

 “Getting in front of all these people can make you have butterflies in your stomach,” Sarah said. “But they go away once you step out there."

 They were also "Winkies" ( soldiers of the Wicked Witch) and marched in two separate scenes, one with a reprise of "The Witch is Dead" after Dorothy poured the water on the Wicked Witch. 

 “She had a great time doing it,” Sarah’s mother Juliet Siddons said. “It was at total fluke how we even got involved.  She has taken ballet for years, but had never done any acting or singing (besides choir).  I think she might be hooked now.”

The Munchkins/Winkies cast practiced three times a week for  4 ½ weeks and performed in 16 shows during the 2-week run of the show. Among the highlights were getting to meet the professional cast, getting to do the final bows and attend the opening night, after-show cast party.

“An experience she will hopefully never forget,” Juliet Siddons said. “She has a poster autographed by all the cast that we are getting framed for her room.”