The Wizard of Oz

BOS Musical Theatre Company’s latest musical was “The Wizard of Oz” (RSC) 1987 version. written by Frank Baum with music and lyrics from the 1936 MGM Motion Picture score by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg with incidental music by Herbert Stothart, The Wizard of Oz is one of the classic film and stage musicals of all time and here we were taken on a journey with Dorothy and her friends Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion down the yellow brick road to see The Wizard of Oz who lives in the Emerald City and on the way we can join them in all their adventures. The scenery and technical input was excellent, there was disappearing witches and some stunning film on back projection which showed Dorothy’s house, the characters in the show, fences and other bits and pieces being swept away inside a Tornado and landing in Oz, I am sure that allot of thought planning and hard preproduction work must have gone into the very effective overall staging of this show which along with a very talented cast resulted in a very enjoyable excellent production that included lots of things for the audience to enjoy.

Directed by Liz Clarke and with very effective and nicely thought out choreography by Wendy Harris, the cast of adults and children produced some lovely entertaining performances, which included an admirable strong performance from Lucie Clarke in the demanding central role of Dorothy Gale. she was accompanied and supported on her journey by three very good performers who produced excellent well-defined characters that we know and love so well, they were Robbie Dale as farmhand Hunk and also as the Scarecrow who despite a lack of brains was actually quite resourceful, Robbie had wonderful rubbery legs, Craig Billington was Hickory and Tin Man who despite that lack of a heart proves to be a reliable, kind, sensitive man and Ian Lawson was Zeke and the very lovable, comedic, cowardly Lion who proves to have courage on many occasions throughout the show, all four actors worked together as a team which is very important in this show. Heather Lewis was outstanding and unrecognisable as the wicked Witch of the West and Miss Gulch, she appeared to be enjoying every wicked moment, her makeup was first-rate and Karen Parkinson was a lovely graceful ethereal contrast as the good Witch of the South Glinda and the motherly yet strict Auntie Em. Nick Lloyd was parental yet understanding as Uncle Henry and he was also very comedic as the Guard in Oz, Jamie Lester gave a very good secure performance as always as Professor Marvel the traveling Magician and Fortune teller who is also the Wizard and is feared by all, but underneath he is very human and kind. But it could be said that the star of the show was the little Jack Russell cross dog named Lotty Reynolds as Toto who behaved and performed brilliantly and was a big hit with the audience.

The chorus of children and adults were very supportive of the principle cast singing and performing the choreography very well, they also produced some very enjoyable performances of their own, I particularly enjoyed the different characters of the Munchkins, the trees with their very graceful well-choreographed movements and the wonderful crows who were very entertaining. Generally, accents were very good, also diction and clarity of words were excellent as was the pace of the show.

Music was provided by a very good orchestra who were under the direction of experienced Musical Director Charles Moss, they supported the cast securely and played very well.

Scenery was just right for the show and along with excellent technical input, very good effective makeup and also spot on colourful costumes which were of good quality all added to the feel and success of the show, well done to all the hardworking backstage crew. Just a small point I could not see the yellow brick road so I was not sure if there was actually one on stage.

Congratulations to Liz Clarke and everyone involved in this very entertaining lovely production, we had a great evening, thank you very much for inviting us.

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