In 2018, Kansas City Ballet granted rights to KCPT (now KC PBS) videographer Brad Austin and his team to document bringing the world premiere of Septime Webre’s ballet The Wizard of Oz to the stage.
Me, Dorothy … and This Road to Oz journeys along the yellow brick road to highlight composers, choreographers, costume designers and dancers from the initial ballet rehearsal to the final bow.
“It takes a lot of trust and courage for a ballet company, or any entity, to give access to a film crew,” Austin says. “A good story rises from being able to overcome the things that go wrong, not the things that go according to plan.”
DOCUMENTARY AWARDS
So far this film has been awarded the 2019 NETA Award for Content/Cultural Documentary, the 2019 Mid-America Regional Emmy Award for Program Special in Arts/Entertainment, and the Social Media Club of Kansas City AMPS Award for Nonprofit via Internal Team.
DOCUMENTARY DISTRIBUTION
More than 60 markets serving more than 88 million Americans have broadcast the film. From Los Angeles to Boston, and Washington, D.C., to Denver, coverage has spanned the country. The WNET arts channel, which specializes in arts, education and public affairs, showcased the documentary to more than 5 million monthly viewers across New York and New Jersey. And recently, Broadway HD, an on-demand, nationally available digital streaming platform, added the documentary to its content library.
Access this award-winning documentary on the Kansas City PBS Video App or Kansas City PBS YouTube channel.
MORE VIDEOS FROM KC PBS
Enjoy other videos that KC PBS shared about the making of The Wizard of Oz.
MORE RELATED BLOG POSTS
https://kcballet.org/blog/special-kcpt-documentary-air/
https://kcballet.org/behind-scenes-wizard-oz/
Photo credits: Top photo: KCB Dancer Amanda DeVenuta as Dorothy by Brad Austin. Inset photo of KCB Dancers in The Wizard of Oz by Brett Pruitt & East Market Studios.
