The Wizard of Oz

Northwich Memorial court has been transformed into the Merry Old Land of Oz this

week by Mid Cheshire Musical Theatre Company, bringing to life much loved characters

and a classic story. Although everyone should know, for those who don’t, The Wizard of

Oz is a story that follows Dorothy on her adventure through Oz, trying to get back home

to Kansas and making new friends (and enemies) along the way. Filled with well known

songs and quotes, the choice to perform The Wizard of Oz is always risky as there will

be an expectation from the audience to deliver magic from the stage.

 

The opening of the show is set in Kansas at Dorothy’s family home, the muted tones

presented by the set and costumes in these scenes worked well to contrast against the

vibrant colours brought to us in Oz. The set throughout the show was rather impressive,

with the emerald city being a personal favourite of mine. Large pieces of set were

brought on to represent the house in Kansas, the Emerald City and the Witches Castle.

While these worked well for the scenes, with the addition of projections being used on

the back wall, they made for slow scene changes. The changes were mostly

underscored, however, the length of them did have an impact on the overall pace of the

show. I must give credit to the creation of the Crystal Ball – this was an incredibly clever

prop and the effect was outstanding.

 

A strong aspect of the production was the lighting, although it was more on the simple

side, it was just what the show needed and the cast were always well lit, even when

descending the stairs on to the floor space. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for

the sound. The band was made up of 6 members (led by Marilyn Blank) who all played

well; however, I feel that a show of this scale needed more. Some of the larger numbers

felt empty in terms of music, with longer dance breaks feeling stretched out as the

music wasn’t matching the energy of the number. There also seemed to be some issues

with the sound balancing between the band and the cast. Parts of the show which

called for lower/softer vocal registers were lost as the cast couldn’t be heard very well

against the band. Most of the colour came from the costumes – and what fabulous

costumes they were! A special mention must go to Jonni Angel Designs for creating the

costumes for Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion. These were brilliant and really

helped to bring the characters to life.

 

There were some very strong directorial choices from Louise Steggals within the show,

including having several members of the cast flying! This is not something you see a lot

in amateur theatre, so it was a lovely surprise and added to the magic of Oz. The staging

of the scenes was well thought out, with no one being blocked and using the space

effectively. I particularly liked that all the munchkins had obviously worked on their own

individual characters and fully committed to them at all times. Jessica Martin’s

choreography was brilliant and well fitting for the themes within the show. A standout

moment for me was the movement from the 4 leads in the Jitterbug – very well

performed. There were some great uses of different shapes and formations throughout,however the ensemble did not always stick to these, and the execution of the

choreography could have been tighter in the bigger numbers.

 

Playing the leading role of Dorothy was Sidney Causer. This was a great casting choice

as Sidney had the perfect voice for Dorothy. Her performance of ‘Somewhere Over the

Rainbow’ was beautiful and was a very strong opening number for the show. There were

a few lines lost early on in the show due to them being rushed, but I would put this down

to opening night nerves as she seemed to settle in as the show went on. She brought

just the right amount of childlike charm and defiance to the role, and really made the

audience fall in love with her.

 

The beloved Scarecrow was brought to life by Michael Corteen who played the role

brilliantly. He delivered some great vocals and comedic moments; however, I personally

would have liked to see some more loose movements and physical clumsiness to really

add to the lack of brain. Joining Scarecrow as another of Dorothy’s friends, was Tin Man.

This role was taken on by John Francis Viagus and he did it justice. The physicality was

spot on and I was especially impressed by the tap section! Rounding off the trio was

Greg Billing as Cowardly Lion. He played the fear within the role perfectly and the vocals

were great! This trio worked incredibly well together, bouncing of each other throughout

and giving us some hilarious moments. Their relationships with Dorothy were believable

and authentic, really pulling on the heartstrings at times. A great job by all three – well

done!

 

You can’t have The Wizard of Oz without a couple of great witches, and great witches is

what we got! Amy Rattenbury’s portrayal of Glinda was so soft, and she performed with

beautiful vocals. We could see that she was truly on Dorothy’s side through the

kindness that came with the performance. The role of Glinda also doubles up with Aunt

Em, which Amy also played well. The performance of Aunt Em didn’t quite have the

same sense of caring as Glinda in my opinion, but this was still an overall strong

performance. In complete contrast, we have the Wicked Witch of the West. Laura

Slater-Hatton made this role her own, putting a very sassy spin on it. I didn’t find the

character to be as scary as I would have liked, but this is just my opinion, and it was

objectively a great performance. Laura fully committed to the role, had great diction

throughout and her wicked laugh was brilliant!

 

Joe Moore gave us a great performance as Professor Marvel and The Wizard of Oz. His

comedy timing and stage presence were spot on. The same can be said for Bill

Shardlow as Uncle Henry and Emerald City Guard. Some great moments were given

during the Emerald City scenes. I must also give special mention to Jess Hazel as Toto,

whose puppetry skills were excellent. She gave Toto such a sweet personality that had

the audience captivated.

 

Team Dorothy performed as the Munchkins for the show I attended and they were

brilliant. From their characterisation to their dancing, and even to the big smiles on their

faces. They were confident in their performances, and their dancing skills were great.

The ensemble during the show gave some nice moments, especially during ‘Merry Old

Land of Oz’ . The harmonies in places could have been tighter, along with the dancing,

and there was the odd moment where it seemed some of the ensemble weren’t quite

confident in what they were doing or where they should be. There were also times when

they could be seen laughing on stage when they had gone wrong which did detract from

the scene around them.

 

For me, this show was carried by the principal cast who all performed incredibly well –

along with the Munchkins from Team Dorothy. This was an enjoyable performance of a

classic story. With some tightening up in areas to keep up the pace of the performance

and to match the energy of the leading cast, this has the potential to be fantastic.

Huge thanks goes to Mid Cheshire Musical Theatre company for inviting me along, and I

wish them the best of luck with their next production, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

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