The Wizard Of Oz

Eighty years old and still going strong, The Wizard of Oz has been enchanting generation after generation on screen, television and stage and is a firm favourite guaranteed to draw in the audience for amateur societies.  With the Young Performers’ Edition available, Kidz R Us had to give it a go!  And give it a go, they did!  I wonder how many of the performers have seen that original Judy Garland film – perhaps it was part of the preparation for this production that they all watched it together in rehearsal.  If not, one can only be amazed at how accurately they were able, nevertheless, to inhabit the characters that are so familiar to those of us oldies in the audience.

Scenery: The familiar projection screens were used to provide moving backdrops to the various scenes, with many appearing uncannily to recreate the original film so that we could be fooled into believing we were watching it!  The addition of large windmill vanes at strategic points around the stage broke up the lines and indicated the countryside setting.  The two flats each side were painted as barn doors on one side and revolved smoothly to display top to bottom glitter and sparkle.  As Dorothy awoke in Oz we were treated to trucks of flowerbeds abundant with colourful blooms and big enough to hide the Munchkins.  The illusions of Scarecrow’s dismemberment and the Witch’s melting disappearance were cunningly created using the trapdoor – lucky you to have such a facility!  

This fantasy show allowed the lighting design full opportunity to pull out all the stops! We had every colour of the rainbow (aptly) with gobos that broke up the vast area of the uncluttered floor, and shook and circled to add dramatic effect to the cyclone and the arrival into Oz, the spooky wood with its blue cast, and the brightness of the Wizard’s Castle, plus prompt blackouts that enabled swift changes to and from Munchkin land.  Aunt Em had a short scene on the upper level stage right in which the overhead lighting left her face in curious shadow but otherwise our attention was focused in timely fashion on the upper stage or the lower area as each had its moment.  The green smoke and flare were effective pyrotechnics that took us by surprise!  

The music and sound:  The long rehearsal period with the backing tracks that will be used during the production’s run definitely gives you an edge when it comes to perfecting prompt cueing within the dialogue and swift pick up by the performers, ably demonstrated at this performance, together with a comfortable and audible balance between the music and the vocals.  Not all the words were crystal clear in the speech all the time; enthusiasm sometimes makes the brain work faster than the tongue and clarity is a casualty, but possibly the American accent was responsible, well-maintained though it was generally. The quality of the singing, the tuneful voices and the confident performances were remarkable given the ages of the cast.

The costumes I saw on display were a large part of the extraordinary success of this show in my opinion, and I don’t underestimate the enormity of the task undertaken by the wardrobe team.  Whilst the opening Kansas homestead outfits were happily subdued in colour and realistic in style, the eye-popping contrast when Dorothy arrived in Oz was sensational – not only in the spectrum of bright, almost luminous colours, but also in the imaginative styles.  I was watching the MGM film!  The trio of Dorothy’s friends were wonderful – I appreciated the detail of the Scarecrow being made out of farm produce bags, the workmanship that had gone into the constructing of the multi-jointed Tin Man and the mobile padding that fleshed out the chubby Lion’s magnificent suit.   

The make up and hair showed the same attention to detail as is evident in all departments.  Subtle freckles dotted Dorothy’s cheeks and bright red spots adorned the Jitterbugs, while many Munchkins had fanciful moustaches.  The team’s skills at face painting were demonstrated by the seams on Scarecrow’s face, the hinges of Tin Man’s jaw and Lion’s pussycat pout while, of course, the Wicked Witch was a bilious shade of green.  

The programme notes reveal how much the cast all enjoyed the choreography, with the Jitterbug standing out as a favourite.  It’s a song cut from the film but is clearly a great success as a stage number and they did it credit, relishing the fast pace and the sheer fun of it. The Scarecrow is to be congratulated for his lovely loose-limbed and limp ungainly movement and the Lion for a wonderfully comical portrayal of a coward that, nevertheless, showed boundless energy and had me grinning from ear to ear.  I did note that movement, as opposed to dance, was clearly disciplined, with no annoying shuffling, and that hand gestures looked clean, deliberate and rehearsed.  

Years of experience have gone into honing your skills of direction and your love of what you do is evident in every show.  It might be tempting now and then to consider breaking a mould or challenging the audience with a new interpretation of a classic but sometimes it’s a great pleasure and very relaxing for us to sit back and watch an honest recreation of what we’ve been accustomed to and expect.  It allows the senses to be thrilled and in this show I was overwhelmed by the similarities between my memory and what you put on stage.  The stage was used to its full potential with even the side gantries utilized for the very funny crows – didn’t see them arrive and didn’t see them go!  The groupings allowed all members of the cast to be seen and avoided that bane of amateur theatre, the U-shape around the three walls!  Your casting was spot on with a very strong Dorothy holding it all together. I loved Glinda’s exceptionally crisp diction and the clowning comedy of the Lion, but actually the confidence displayed by all the leading characters could not be faulted and the entire ensemble was so well drilled that once again I’m obliged to say – where do you go from here? This was a show of the highest standard and one of which everyone involved – director, musical director, choreographer, technicians, cast, crew and all the backstage departments can be rightly very proud.

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