The Wizard of Oz - the Panto

The Wizard of Oz - The Panto

By Leonard H Caddy 4th Feb 2022

Kelvedon Players - The Institute Kelvedon

Director - Charlotte French

 

Everyone knows the story of The Wizard of Oz. Who cannot say that they have never seen the famous film with Judy Garland as Dorothy?   The familiar line up of the leading characters was well executed by this talented cast and the full house obviously enjoyed the night.  It is so good to see the audiences finally back in the theatre and having such a great time. Covid had taken its toll with rehearsals with this production and apparently many rehearsals were on zoom. The director, Charlotte French, told me she even had to direct by zoom from her bed, when she and husband Barry caught the virus. So well done to everyone for finally getting this show on, I know as a director, exactly how hard it can be.

Kelvedon Players are renowned for their fantastic sets and costumes, this show was no exception, colourful and well thought out, they really added to the pantomime. The Munchkins were all dressed very differently, with brightly coloured wigs, while the main characters of Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow also had great outfits. In addition we saw the most glamorous Wicked Witch of the West that I have ever seen!  Maybe more Sleeping Beauty Wicked Queen than Wicked Witch but nevertheless an interesting choice. Congratulations to the Wardrobe team for the imaginative costumes.

Enter Dorothy, played by Camilla Finch; she looked so happy on the stage, with her infectious smile, that she made you smile too. Her rendition of ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ was beautiful. 

Accompanying her was her Aunt Em - the dame of our panto.  Played by Jack Williams, he was full of quips and local gags which the audience appreciated. The role of the Dame is always a hard role to play and I did feel that Jack needed to relax a little more into the role. I felt he was keeping to his script rather than getting the audience on his side with improvisation, as is usual, but he was energetic and his projection was clear.

The trio of the Scarecrow (Rosemary Townsend) Lion (Glynis Yates) and Tinman (Dave Clay) were absolutely brilliant.  This was a strong team playing together and a joy to watch.  Rosemary has so much stage presence that she fills the stage and is always very professional in her approach. Glynis was truly in her element as the Lion, loving every minute in her furry costume and Dave with his wonderful line of having metal fatigue was great fun.

We also had in this pantomime Prince Emerald (Luke Hill) and Princess Margarette.(Mia Carter Joy) Both were dressed splendidly  but both needed either to project more or use mikes as it was incredibly hard to hear them sometimes especially when they sang. I would have loved to have seen Mia smile a little more, as she looked so serious throughout the show and a little more energy from the pair would have enlightened their performance even more. Maybe nerves of the first night back after a break of a few days came into play?

Two of my favourite characters in this show were The Witch of the South, Jan Holton and The Witch of the North, Katie Dunmow.  Excellent choices here for these roles, as they really worked well together. I loved the fact that, The Witch of the South was older now; needing glasses and the younger witch always seem to have trouble getting her broomstick started. These were fun roles for both of them. Well done ladies.

Small roles of the Gatekeeper (Kelly Brown), resplendent in a bright emerald green dress and the Chamberlain (Russ Winsor), were both excellent. I really would like to see Kelly taking on a leading role at some point as she is a powerful actress and this small role was not enough for her talents.  John Holmes as The Wizard, Munchkin, Woodman, and ensemble actor should be commended for the amount he had to do throughout the show. I’m sure he was enjoying every moment.  Jim Self as The Odd Woodlander completed the cast with a chorus of Jane Waters and Zoe Carter.

Last but not least we had the Wicked Witch of the West. Heidi Hamber embodied the role of the evil witch with a wonderful scream and cackle and entering stage left in a puff of smoke. With swirling black and silver cloak and feather headdress and black velvet dress, she totally enjoyed heckling the audience and being evil.  She seemed to have a strange accent of American and Rumanian?? which I thought a little incongruous as all the other actors had English accents but it seemed to work and she was having the most glorious time on stage. Her song ‘Cold as Ice’ worked really well and her projection was always clear. Well done Heidi.

Lighting and sound were as usual up to standard and props were all well thought out.  Bazil the Rabbit’s box worked with a running joke of feeding him, but were we not going to see the rabbit at the end?? I expected to see a huge rabbit come out after eating so much? Also when the Wicked Witch of the East was flattened by Dorothy’s house, the feet had the ruby slippers on but when supposedly taken off and given to Dorothy, they were silver with the ruby ones left on the feet.  Surely somehow you could have sprayed the shoes as these are an integral part of the story?? Little details but would have loved to have seen this done.

This was a fun pantomime to watch and we congratulate everyone, cast and crew, for all the hard work involved. We would like to thank Chairman Jeremy Doughton for his warm welcome and refreshments.  Thank you so much for inviting NODA, we look forward to your next production and seeing you at the awards in April.

 

Christine Davidson

NODA District Eight

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