Zoe Johansen Archives - Eagle Rock Blog

Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Eagle Rock’s Take on ‘The Wiz’

Eagle Rock School students and faculty members are busy rehearsing for a series of performances of the Tony Award-winning 1975 musical, “The Wiz,” which are scheduled in Estes Park at month’s end.

Our production of “The Wiz” (March 31-April 2, 2016) is an urban retelling of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 tale, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” using Motown, Funk and Soul music to rework the story into the context of modern African-American culture. A film adaption of the show was released in 1978, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

Eleven talented Eagle Rock students and four staff members will perform in our staged version, backed by a live four-piece professional pit band. Meghan Tokunaga-Scanlon, Eagle Rock School’s Music Instructional Specialist, directs the show, with co-direction by World Languages Instructional Specialist Brighid Scanlon and musical direction by 2015/2016 Public Allies Teaching Fellow Michael Grant.

Performances will be staged beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 31 as well as Friday and Saturday, April 1 and 2 at the Hempel Auditorium within the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park. Admission at the door is “pay what you like” and all proceeds benefit the Eagle Rock Graduate Higher Education Fund.

But we digress. The story of Dorothy and her road trip to Oz has become known worldwide for its themes of home, belonging, belief in oneself and freedom. “The Wiz,” with its original premiere in 1975 with an all-black cast and African-American styles, boldly showed that this classic story belongs to everyone, with audiences of all races flocking to watch productions of “The Wiz” over the past four decades. In addition to be culturally empowering, it is a “joy machine,” gorgeously designed, with quick humor and irresistible melodies.

Preparations for our production began last fall with a Continue reading…

Eagle Rock Students Win Art Awards at Rocky Mountain Park’s 100th Anniversary

RMNP-100 There’s been a lot of celebrating this year surrounding the 100th anniversary of Rocky Mountain National Park, and Eagle Rock School students got in on the action with their offerings in the park’s student art competition.

This coming Friday is the 100th birthday of this pristine park that is Eagle Rock’s nearest all-green neighbor. And we’ve been excited as everyone else about this landmark anniversary, which has been highlighted by speeches, special activities and community events for the past year.

Some of our more artistic students signed up earlier this year for the park’s 100th anniversary student art competition, and Rahmel Evans, Cristian Aguliz and Zoe Johansen all won big-time awards for their art. Rahmel took a first-place win in the park’ statewide high school photography category, and Cristian followed up with a second-place nod. Zoe walked away with second place statewide for high school art.

The theme of the student art competition was to illustrate a century of lessons learned from the eco systems in Rocky Mountain National Park. During an Exposure course held prior to the contest, students spent a full week traveling to different locations in the park, shooting pictures and learning about the environment and history of the area. That’s where Rahmel and Cristian captured the excellent digital images of Rocky that were recognized as winners.

During a following trimester — in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain National Park mural that Eagle Rock students painted — time and energy was spent Continue reading…