The Wizard of Oz

There are many and varied scripts available for this show and LTC chose to use the one based on the original MGM film.  Director Tim Cater has done his very best to emulate the effects from the film and, in the main, he has pulled it off.  It was a shame that the first scene, on the farm, had to be projected from the front as the actors reflected this projection as they moved around the stage.  The remaining scenes appeared to be ‘back projected’ which gave a much better ‘look’ to the show.  I liked the use of white masking to make rainbow shaped performing areas, that reflected well on the sense of the show.

The cast were, without exception, very good with the four main Principals all playing their roles well.  Laura Harper played Dorothy beautifully, with just the right amount of innocent wonder and feistiness.  I particularly liked Killian McIntosh’s Scarecrow, the character was exactly as I wanted to see him.  This is a very athletic and comedic part and Killian certainly did it justice in all respects.   Dave Gardner played the Tinman, bringing out the character well.  Julian Cottee was the Cowardly Lion, a delightful portrayal and totally right for the character.

The supporting Principals were all very good, Jamie Redgate was suitably quirky as Professor Marvel and great as the Wizard.  Sally Lightfoot played Aunt Em, demonstrating her breadth of experience on stage.  Bradley Green was Uncle Henry, a nicely judged character and Chris Higginson was the Emerald City Guard, I was not sure about his vocal presentation at first but it did develop nicely and he is a great dancer.  Lianne Larth played Miss Gulch and the Wicked Witch with great gusto, obviously enjoying the opportunity to be the ‘baddy’.  Kate Andrews made a lovely Glinda, a very nice performance.

The members of the ensemble were all good and, as expected from this company, the singing was of a very high standard.  I really wasn’t sure, though, about the adults playing Munchkins on their knees.  The costumes were well designed to disguise this, but the fact is that people move differently when walking on their knees and this was obvious.    Of course, the solution is to have children playing the parts and, from what I saw of the children in the cast, they were more than capable of doing so.  It was, perhaps, the one jarring thing about the production.

I only saw one team of children and they were excellent, all members of LTC’s junior group, they had great stagecraft and projection.  I am sure that the other group were equally as good. 

The scenery was quite simple but extremely effective, congratulations to LTC for producing this all ‘in house’.   The Wizard was particularly effective!   I did feel that the blackouts and, relatively, slow scene changes affected the pace of the show.  These days, audiences expect the scene changes to be quick and seamless.  Whilst I do appreciate that, in this show, some blackouts were necessary, I thought it should have been possible to speed the changes up a bit.

The costumes were beautiful, it was clear that a lot of them had been created for this show.   I really liked the trees in the forest, particularly the head dresses which were masterpieces. The ‘look’ of the show is particularly important in this version and the whole team did the company proud.

The music was well balanced, and MD Paul Smith is to be congratulated on a very good ‘sound’ to the whole production.

Overall, a delightful evening’s entertainment, thoroughly enjoyed by the large audience, including many children who must have been entranced.  My thanks to the company for looking after us so well.

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