The Wizard Of Oz

The Wizard Of Oz was the first full scale musical that I had seen GADS produce in Gosforth Public Hall and I was keen to see how the group would handle such a demanding musical on a relatively small stage.

When the Overture started I was pleased to hear that GADS had opted to perform a version of the show created by the Royal Shakespeare Company.  I much prefer this iteration of the show as it stays truer to the narrative of the timeless movie, giving the audience exactly what they expect.  It also provides plenty of expanded dance routines and tricky choral arrangements for the cast to get their teeth into!

Megan Evans gave a lovely performance as Dorothy Gale. It’s impossible to watch The Wizard Of Oz without making comparisons to Judy Garland – but Megan made the role her own and carried the show like a true leading lady.

Sticking to tradition, the friends that Dorothy meets in Munchkinland play a dual-role as the Farmhands during the first scene.  The doubling of characters was slightly different here than the norm - I assume due to casting restraints. This did make some of the subtle references to their secondary characters later in the show seem a little out of place – but I appreciate you have to cut your cloth to suit.

Will Sands gave as expected, a very confident performance as Uncle Henry and the Tin Man. He spurred well off Adam Pilkington who got the majority of the laughs as the Cowardly Lion in a performance very reminiscent to that of Bert Lahr in the movie. 

Benita Blacklock was an absolutely charming Glinda.  She brought a touch of class and poise to Munchkinland – not only looking the part in a very elegant dress, but also sang beautifully too!

Having many cameos (and a scene-stealing moustache!) Alison Fligg showed great versatility doubling up as Aunt Em and the Oz Guard and gave the scenes she featured in a fresh burst of energy.

I’m not sure who directed and choreographed the production as no production team were credited in the programme, but whoever stepped up to the mark I thought did a great job!  The pacing was good and the choreography suited the production.  

I’m always impressed by the lighting that GADS manage to achieve with such limited resources. I did feel though, they could have had more fun with the cyclone scene.  It’s a LONG sequence at the best of times and whilst I thought the choreography was a nice touch and quite nifty, a more dramatic lighting state could have been created to help draw less attention to the dancers and more to the props that should have had our focus. 

Sound on the whole was very good, even on the back row I could hear everything that was being said and the backing tracks were never overpowering.

Whilst the scenery was simple, it was perfectly serviceable and I have to hark back to previous reviews, exquisitely painted.

All in all, I was really impressed with GADS production - Thank you for a lovely evening, there really is No Place Like Gosforth!

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