GRANDVIEW, WV ( LOOTPRESS) – Tuesday marked opening night of Theatre West Virginia’s production of the timeless classic, The Wizard of Oz. As we approach the conclusion of a fantastic 62nd Season for Theatre West Virginia, it’s time to pull back the curtain and get to know some of the folks who help make the magic happen.
Theatre West Virginia veteran Andy Woodruff portrays the great and powerful one himself, the titular Wizard of Oz, as well as Professor Marvel.
Woodruff became a student of the craft at a young age, getting involved with Charleston’s Light Opera Guild and Children’s Theatre as a child actor. He also performed on The Showboat Rhododendron in 1963 as part of West Virginia’s Centennial Celebration.
“It was there I met a young and exuberant John Benjamin and his wife Betty, who became Theatre West Virginia stalwarts and influential people in my life,” he explains. “I owe much to those early experiences.”
“I first worked with Theatre West Virginia in 1975, which seems like a long time ago because it is,” Woodruff says of the decades-long association.
Since that time he has assumed roles in an abundance of productions with the organization, including those of Renfield from Count Dracula, The Governor in Paradise Park, and more recently, a captivativating turn as Devil Anse Hatfield in Hatfields and McCoys.
Woodruff studied at Evergreen State College while living and performing in the Pacific Northwest, and during subsequent decades worked as an actor and musician in theaters throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
These days, outside of his continuing work with Theatre West Virginia, Woodruff enjoys spending time with friends and family, as well as gardening on his farm just a few miles from the Cliffside Amphitheater.
Interestingly enough, his history with the lauded venue goes back even further than his beginnings as a child actor. “I went with my family to see Honey in the Rock, the first show produced at Cliffside Amphitheater,” he recalls.
In a series of full-circle developments, Woodruff has since not only worked on that very same musical drama with Theatre West Virginia, but has taken on several of the play’s roles including those of Whitey Hawkins, John Morgan, and Harmon Cantrell – roles which he names as some of his favorites of his career.
Theatre West Virginia’s run of shows for The Wizard of Oz continues Wednesday, with additional shows scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, contingent on weather conditions. Click here for more LOOTPRESS Theatre West Virginia Profiles.