The Wiz

What a very enjoyable evening this was.  Not having seen either the show or the film before, I was completely unaware of story, music etc.  or of the treat in store.  All I knew was that it was a sort of prequel to The Wizard of Oz set to modern pop music. 

Set in a skateboard park, covered in graffiti, the set, on two levels, with steps, slides, and tunnels was always beautifully lit, interesting to look at but never detracted from the action, and was fully used by the whole cast.   Dorothy (Eliza Carroll) was delightful and hardly ever off stage, at all times was well supported by The Scarecrow ( Nathan Hurtault) a wonderful character with excellent diction and a lovely singing voice; the Tin Man (Anthony Gilmartin) slightly stiffer but again with excellent diction and The Lion, wonderfully portrayed by Michael Riley who was in character the whole of the time and, dressed as he was in a fur coat doing all the dances and movements must have been quite worn out by the end of the performance.

Of course there had to be witches, two good ones (Anna Riley and Laura Judge) and the very wicked one (Jill Whitehouse) whose evil laugh was bloodcurdling.  The Wiz completed the characters in Oz, was well portrayed by Nigel Passey.  Auntie Em, Uncle Henry and ToTo the dog, completed the cast and together with a small chorus, a group of dancers and a delightful group of children, all of whom knew exactly what to do and when, the evening sped by in a flash of good acting, singing beautifully accompanied by the orchestra, excellentchoreography and special effects.  The opening scene of the storm over Kansas was spectacular in every aspect and the show continued in the same vein.

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