CORRECTION: Caption should read Morgan Pohl.

Bright light will fall on munchkins, mice and poppies during the next two weekends.

All-of-us Express Children's Theatre presents its annual summer performance, "The Wizard of Oz," on Fridays and Saturdays at Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road.

The nonprofit theater, founded by director Evelyn Weymouth, offers theater for children, by children.

"I've found that if you honestly, truly, to your core, expect professional behavior from children and believe they're capable of it, you'll get it," Weymouth said.

More than 50 cast members, ages 6-18, will perform an hour-long show with all the familiar characters but is based on the famous novel rather than the movie musical.

Another crew with nearly 60 members execute behind-the-scenes tasks including lights, sound, props, makeup and costumes. Local youth make up most of the cast and crew, but performers come from as far as Battle Creek.

Playing the role of the Cowardly Lion, 14-year-old Andrea Hibbs, from DeWitt, has worked as a cast or crew member in each of the theater's four yearly shows since 2005.

"It's just a rush to be standing up there watching everyone after the show," Hibbs said. "It feels really good when you finish, and you've done a good job."

In the theater's 18-year history, Weymouth has watched former crew members go on to become a lights technician at theaters in New York, a casting professional for CBS in Hollywood and an actress in an upcoming Lifetime movie in Los Angeles.

"That's my favorite part of the company," she said. "It's watching kids come in at the age of 6 and watching them grow, mature and come out of this company as quite a valuable contributor to the world."

William Miles, 22, from Lansing, saw the theater's performance of "Treasure Island" nearly a decade ago. Miles liked what he saw and has worked various cast and crew positions since.

As a volunteer supervisor, Miles helps kids handle lights, volume controls, paint brushes and power tools to assemble a set. For him, watching the reaction of crew members is most rewarding.

"They come and see the show, and see the set up on the stage, and can say 'I did that,'" he said. "That feeling of seeing all your work up there on the stage is the best thing they take away."

Most of the theater's shows are aimed at younger, family-friendly audiences, but previous shows have spanned in seriousness from "Winnie the Pooh" to William Shakespeare's "Macbeth."

Some of Weymouth's former cast and crew don't return when they start high school-level performances, but others come back and prefer the company's productions. She encourages them to do as much dramatic activities as they find.

"I don't expect anybody to perform in our company, only because I don't think that's healthy," she said. "It's good for kids to perform under a variety of directors."