The Nearly Fantastic Rise of Too Much

Chinaka Hodge’s world premiere play reimagines “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Wiz “with an inspirational story about courage, individual action and finding one’s voice. Performed by 1st-4th grade students from John Muir Elementary School, the production features jazz, hip-hop and rock music from Imanuel Junaedy and his band. It was a full-circle experience for Chinaka, reuniting her with a former mentor from nearly two decades ago—John Muir school principal, Chris Rosenberg. Over the course of eight months, this labor-of-love production involved the talents of directors Ryan Marchand & Samantha Jackson; assistant director Emma Jaster; choreographer ArVejon Jones; costume designer René Walker; and set designer Nannette Harris.