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Students at Chilton Christian Academy held a dress rehearsal Wednesday afternoon for their upcoming performances of “The Wizard of Oz” play April 24 and 25.

Sixty-four students in seventh through 12th grades have worked to put together the production from designing and building the set, sewing the costumes, memorizing scripts and preparing the gymnasium for sound and lighting.

“The great part about the play is that the kids have done everything,” said CCA English teacher Charlotte Johnson who supervises the production. “This is a student- led thing, and adults play a very small part in the whole thing. There are a few adults who help volunteer, but for the most part it is the kids who do it all.”

Johnson said the production is a bit of a twist on the classic “The Wizard of Oz” with elements of “Steampunk,” which refers to blended elements of the Victorian Era and the Industrial Revolution.

“The students studied the theme in school, and we wanted to incorporate that in the production so you will see a lot of elements throughout the play with these elements,” Johnson said. “We figured everyone has already seen the ‘Wizard of Oz,’ so we wanted to change it up a bit.”

The dress rehearsal Wednesday invited students in other grades at the school to watch the play and have autograph books signed by the cast.

Each student in the play is assigned their parts, starting with seniors and juniors in the major character roles.

Senior Alex Headley plays Dorothy and has worked the last few weeks to make sure she has her 200 lines memorized.

“It is a lot to remember, but I have loved it,” Headley said. “I think the best part has been getting to spend so much time with other students. It has been really neat staying late after school and getting to eat together and hang out.”

Headley said one characteristic she learned about her character Dorothy was that everything works out in the end.

“I think a lot of people associate Dorothy with this spoiled little girl, and she really works hard to make sure everything works out,” Headley said. “I have really enjoyed getting to play her.”

Senior Trent Ray plays the jovial Scarecrow, who often keeps the audience laughing with his silly antics.

“I think that has been the fun part about my character is I get to sort of goof around and keep people laughing,” Ray said. “I enjoy making people laugh, so I hope those that come can just sit and relax and enjoy what they are seeing.”

Junior Evann Campbell designed the sets for the play and wanted to incorporate different themes with each scene including whimsical, scary and sparkly green.

“I honestly looked up a lot of my ideas on Google and Pinterest,” Campbell said. “I really wanted to create different scenes that had different emotions with each one. For instance, I wanted Oz to be sparkly and green, and I wanted the Munchkin scene to be very whimsical. It was just a lot of fun putting it all together.”

Campbell said her favorite set to design was the witch’s castle, where she focused on incorporating a lot of “steampunk” themes throughout.

“The Wizard of Oz” will be held at 7 p.m. April 24-25 in the CCA gymnasium.

Tickets are $7 and may be purchased early or at the door each night. Doors open at 6 p.m., and seating will take place at 6:30 p.m. The money raised at the play will go to cover the costs of the production.

To purchase tickets or for more information about the play, call Chilton Christian Academy at (205) 688-4454.