The Wizard of Oz

“The Wizard of OZ” is a very well-known story that everyone loves, based on the film and then faithfully adapted for the stage but if the audience were expecting this, they would have been surprised and delighted by this most enjoyable interpretation written especially for MAD by Burbs L. Burberry.

 What a talent she has. A well written and witty script, a different slant on the original story, including many familiar panto traditions, slick and not falling into the trap of including too much additional material This was so refreshing to watch and I should like to extend my sincere congratulations to Burbs, who I am sure will go far; my advice to her is to keep those scripts coming and to market them, every Society is looking for fresh and original material. Just excellent, what a talent!

Of course, every script needs good performers to interpret it and this company pulled out all the stops to do just that. It had everything, great accents super costumes and the singing, especially the soloists, could not be faulted. It is sometimes difficult, with panto to get good acting combined with excellent singing but this achieved just that.

    The director knows what she is doing with groupings etc, choreography was great and not so much as a hand out of place, terrific stuff!

The only thing this panto did not have was a Dame!  Difficult to include one, as no character would fit that role and would have been cumbersome and superfluous. There was so much going on with so many different characters that “she” was not missed.

The songs chosen were appropriate and well delivered. The music was all recorded and the technical expertise, meant it was faultlessly timed.

Jellia Jamb was dressed all in green complete with hat reminiscent of an air stewardess, Full of confidence from her first entrance, a great rapport with audience, she had them in the palm of her hand, The Wizard of Oz himself. dressed in a fine shimmering green Jacket took control of the stage soon as he came on, brilliant!

Lion made the part her own along with Scarecrow, two young people to watch out for!

As for Tinman, he looked every inch the part, with a wonderful Liverpudlian accent to die for, these three worked well together!

Dorothy was a natural, she not only looked the part, but portrayed the role beautifully along with a superb singing voice and Toto her companion and pet dog was the icing on the cake, Ernie really seemed to think himself into the part Wonderful!

Momby the wicked witch scared everyone and along with her protagonist, the good witch, Locasta Tattypoo, who was laid back, lovable and totally unscared despite not having yet fully qualified.

The winged Monkeys were scary but gave the impression of not liking being bad and became quite lovable when reunited with their imprisoned King in the end!  Very well done.

Some great moments of boos, hurrahs and “behind you’s” were exercised in plenty with this pantomime & you couldn’t help being caught up with it all. At one stage I even shouted at the Wicked Witch to clear off!   She was so convincing!

As for Tinker & Smith, they were a super comedy duo who got many a laugh, their timing was excellent, with some good touches and some amusing local references.  

The Chorus did well and were a fine backup for the principals, there must have been a lot of rehearsals for this fine production during difficult times but must have been a lot of fun, which was reflected in the performance.

It was great to see MAD back on the stage where they belong. Thanks for the laughs and joy you gave to the audience with all that energy and pizzazz. A great script, great cast, and great producer and backstage crew all combined to deliver a highly successful and enjoyable show. Can’t wait for the next one!  

Graham Liverton 

Regional Councillor NODA Southwest 

 

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