The Wizard Of Oz

In a wild tornado, a confused Kansas girl named Dorothy and her sassy dog Toto get swept away to the psychedelic land of Oz. Desperate to find a way back home, they embark on a yellow brick road trip, joined by a brainless scarecrow, a heartless tin man, and a cowardly lion—basically, a walking anatomy lesson.

Along the way, they battle flying monkeys, suffer fashion disasters courtesy of witches, and discover that the wizard they seek is nothing more than a trickster behind a curtain. In the end, Dorothy clicks her ruby slippers three times, utters "There's no place like home," and wakes up to find out it was all just a crazy dream. Maybe she should give-up the late-night snacks?

Lyman Frank Baum’s story. “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, holds a special place in the hearts of families everywhere, and it has survived retellings and adaptations, successions and additions over the years. It’s reliable and predictable, fun and ridiculous. It began as a children’s novel, first published in 1900 and was made into a Broadway musical in 1902.  The film version we all relate to, and which this RSC musical production is based on, was released some 37 years later.

Barrow Operatic and Dramatic Society (BODS) have taken it on with the hope of bringing the story to another new audience and delight families once more, having last performed the show 12 years prior. It’s interesting to see an oft-repeated show because you hope for a new take and to see something you haven’t seen before, so I was very interested to see what BODS would have up their sleeves this time.  Upon entering the theatre, the audience were warmly greeted by a charming yellow brick road that invited us to venture towards our seats.

Dorothy Gale (Caitlin McIntosh) opened the show as would be expected, using the rear audience entrance, walking up to the stage with her dog, Toto (Otto McIntosh- great costume, very convincing) and immediately drew choruses of “awwws”.  This immediately brought the audience on-side and we were delivered straight into Kansas and went on to meet the various characters of the story.

Caitlin’s role is pivotal to a successful performance and she really did the part justice. She looked and acted every inch a “Judy Garland”, with her interpretation matching. Her stage presence and mannerisms caught the character perfectly and she related well to her fellow actors. Her singing was beautiful and her movement effortless.  Well done, Caitlin - excellent.

Our hapless trio of Scarecrow / Hunk, Tinman / Hickory and Lion / Zeke were played by Louise Marshall, Craig Mitchell and Sam Southern.

Louise was a delightful Scarecrow, showing the great physical dexterity that’s needed for this role. Craig played Tin man well, easily looking the part and mimicking the Tin man’s rather “robotic” nature.  Sam did a lovely job with the part of Lion, really taking the limelight when singing, “If I were King of the Forest”, with his wonderful, somewhat operatic voice.  

Glinda / Aunty Em, was played by Laura Thompson, who offered her own sassy interpretation of the good witch. It was more of a “knowing” and “street smart” approach to the character, but without changing a word. She obviously thought a lot about how to play this part and the “homework” showed.  

The Wicked Witch of the West / Miss Gultch was performed by Rachel Lucy.  This was an accomplished and reliable performance, leaving the children in the audience genuinely nervous, as they should be. On the odd occasion, we lost some of the dialogue when in "Grinch mutter mode", but  I guess this didn't really matter in this case, as everyone knew the story. Miss Gultch was suitably mean and pernicious, laying the seeds of the mayhem which was to follow, while her Witch character did a believable job of talking to her flying monkies, especially the notably good Lizzie Wilson - spokesmonkey of her troop. Lizzie's characterisation of said flying monkey was impressive.

The Wizard / Professor was played by Seamus Doran.  I thought Seamus did a particularly nice job with the Professor, where his calm and wise demeanour worked well in his initial interactions with Dorothy.  This helped us to understand Dorothy’s naivety and also allowed the audience to warm to the Wizard when the facade comes tumbling down.

Uncle Henry / The Guard was played by David Faratian. This character’s condescending nature and haughty posture was handled well by David who made the role his own. He looked like he had put work into his interpretation and it gave the rest of the cast plenty to work with. Advice to Uncle Henry.... Never put a smoking pipe in your pocket.

The staging was suitably colourful and vibrant and a usual off-the-peg set from Scenic Productions.  The staging worked well and the musical numbers looked good.  Some scenes did occasionally look a little crowded or lacking some balance but the overall effect was good. On occasion, transitions were clunky- the Yellow Brick Road never seemed to get Dorothy anywhere, as after traversing it, the flaura, fauna and wildlife she'd left were still there upon arrival in the next area, but mostly fairly quick and didn’t drag the story.  Additional effects such as the snow scene and occasional fog worked nicely.  The fire effect from the Wicked Witch worked well.  Lifts operated as they should. There were a few odd lighting choices, but they didn’t detract from the show as a whole.  Sadly, the Yellow Brick Road at the foot of the stage wasn’t visible for most of the audience, so that part was more about the aesthetics of the room when entering.

Costumes by Charades were generally lovely and brought up to date. The Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion looked especially resplendent, with the Tinman sporting a steam-punk style outfit which looked great. I did state previously that Caitlin was every inch a Dorothy - in reality, she was every inch plus a few more, as the Ruby Slippers took on a more modern style.

Musically, the large orchestra was loud and I felt it was possibly too much for the auditorium. I know of others earlier in the week who had moved back a little during the interval to try to counter the volume, and it might be worth bearing this in mind for future productions.  That said, the orchestra sounded good in terms of their performances, but I do feel it took over the proceedings a little.  

The singing from the principals and the chorus was lovely throughout.  Good performances across the board, and musical director Chris Wadeson must be pleased with this.

The choreography and movement was in the capable hands of Sally Blake who created some lovely pieces in this production.  Movement made good use of the stage and was suitable for the range of abilities in the society. I particularly enjoyed “The Jitterbug”.  

Director, Steve Carrick, along with Assistant Director Katie Priss should be pleased with this production.  There were some nice modern updates, which really helped maintain interest:  newer costumes, an updated set and videos depicting the whirlwind.  It was nicely staged and directed and the cast were clearly well drilled. The show does start to drag on a bit (which, being honest you don't notice if you're in it), but I think this can sometimes be the case with older shows.

The production came across well and the cast and audience clearly had a lot of fun with this show.  

Thank you BODS for your hospitality

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