Community Theatre of Greensboro’s Dorothys find friendship in the role and each other-News & Record

That’s true, anyway, for Trinity Evans and Abigail Farlow, the two actors sharing the role of Dorothy in Community Theatre of Greensboro’s 23rd production of “The Wizard of Oz.”

“It doesn’t always happen that way, but one of my biggest pleasures is to see a little girl start with us as a Munchkin and looking at Dorothy, dreaming one day she would get to be Dorothy,” and then one day get the part, says Mitchel Sommers, CTG artistic director.

“That’s very sweet, and it’s also a great advantage because they know the show.”

Both Trinity and Abigail have had their hearts set on being Dorothy for a long time — if “long time” is the right thing to say when you’re talking about two teenagers.

Trinity, 15 and a student at Weaver Academy, played the Braggart, one of the Munchkins, in her first and only other appearance in “The Wizard of Oz” — she thinks it was in 2011.

But she yearned to be Dorothy. Oh, how she yearned.

“Dorothy has always been one of my top roles to try to get,” she says. “So I used to audition every year for ‘Wizard’ just to see if I could get Dorothy, and this happened to be the year.”

Abigail, 16 and a student at Wheatmore High School in Randolph County, was a Munchkin in 2013, but she has had other parts. That same year, she was also a crow and a jitterbug dancer. Then in 2014, she was in the women’s ensemble, a jitterbug dancer and an Ozian, one of the green people in the land of Oz. But she, too, tried out for Dorothy.

What’s the appeal? Both girls say they can relate to the character. They’re close to the same age as Dorothy, and, well, they like her.

“I like how bubbly she is and how she’s friendly to everybody,” Trinity says. “She has a great personality, and she always keeps her head high.”

Abigail is also a fan of the actor most often associated with the role — Judy Garland, Dorothy in the 1939 film version of “The Wizard of Oz.”

She loves the classic song, “Somewhere Over a Rainbow.” In fact, she loves pretty much everything about the movie and has since she was a little girl.

“I liked how it went from black and white to how colorful it was,” Abigail says. “And I liked the imagery of how a dream can go so far and how if you don’t look at what you have right now, it can lead to things that are more troubling.”

The two actors divide time playing Dorothy, but they don’t see it as a competition quite so much as a partnership.

“We can help each other,” Abigail says. “We have someone to relate to when we make a mistake, and we have someone to help us when we need some help.”

And, Trinity says, “Dorothy is such a big role … it’s a lot of singing, a lot of acting. So I think it’s to give each other time to relax. And when I’m not Dorothy, I’ll be helping the other Dorothy. Like, I’ll know exactly where she’ll be, so I’ll be there with her water, her dog.”

About that dog, Abigail’s Toto will be played by her aunt’s Yorkie, Fifi. (Fifi is a little better behaved than her own Maltese-Shih Tzu mix, Molly, Abigail says.)

Trinity will be carrying her Yorkie, Callie, down the yellow brick road.

And what was Dorothy searching for as she walked down that road?

Friendship, Abigail says. “Toto’s really her only friend in Kansas. And I feel like when she bumps her head and she goes into the dream, she was actually searching for someone to be a friend. I think that’s the reason the three characters — Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Lion, become her friends.”

Trinity believes it’s about confidence — “just knowing that she can do anything that she puts her mind to.

“I also think that her goal is to support her friends, to make sure that everything is fine and to better herself in life.”

Does Dorothy find what she’s looking for? Abigail and Trinity are convinced of it.

After all, sometimes dreams do come true.