The Wizard of Oz Youth Edition

What a wonderful evening at The Wizard of Oz (Youth Version) with the very talented Students Academy of Dinnington Operatic Society.  This fabulous group of young people took us over the rainbow and down the yellow brick road in a beautiful journey of joy, hope and friendship.  Louise Selden (Director), Gail Cobb (Musical Director) along with all the Production Team had supported this group to present a very special production.

Opening with a monochrome vision of the bare Kansas prairie we meet Aunt Em (Izzy Beazley) and Uncle Henry (Lyle Hague) both of whom were very convincing in portraying much older characters with strong acting and voices.        We also meet a range of farm hands and Miss Gulch who we will get to know later in the story.  The tornado was very well managed by the young people who coped wonderfully turning the cottage round and landing it on a Wicked Witch.  Dorothy made a wonderful quick change into her blue pinafore and this young actress also did a similar ‘slight of foot’ to enable the ruby slippers to magically appear on her feet.

We were greeted in Munchkin Land be some truly fabulous characters – the Coroner (Grace Darwin), Barrister (Emma Hubert) and Mayor (Sophie Welsh) had clear projection and lovely characterisation as did the Lullaby League and Lollipop Guild members.  Great dancing and singing from everyone at the start of the Yellow Brick Road.  Elle Brooke-Hinchliffe was a stunning Glinda, her beautiful voice and accent making her perfect for this role.   Another piece of excellent casting was Martha Cope as Miss Gulch and the Wicked Witch – she really was thoroughly evil and had a cackle that many adult actors would desire.  Brilliant performances from both Elle and Martha in the personification of good versus evil.

The heroine of the story is Dorothy Gale and Ruby Harker fully took on every element of this role made famous by Judy Garland.  Ruby sang, danced and acted as eloquently as any young performer I have ever seen play the character and confidently took the audience on her journey of discovery to the Land of Oz.  Dorothy was accompanied by a lovely and lively Toto played by Isabelle Kraus.  As they travel they meet some new friends.  First is the Scarecrow played by Sophie Ingram.  Physicality is so important in this role and Sophie did a wonderful job of capturing the scatterbrain character.  Katie Shekle was great as the Tin Man and again brought this role to life.  Preston Bird as the Lion is talented beyond his years and absolutely ‘found’ the Cowardly Lion ensuring that the audience desperately wanted him to find his courage. 

Bobby Miller played Professor Marvel and the Wizard with wonderful empathy and was well supported by Florence Butler as the Doorman and Guard. This Youth Version offers lots of opportunities for the Ensemble and whether they were Munchkins, Crows, Trees, Jitterbugs, Ozians, Monkeys or Winkies they performed excellently.  With clever choreography by Catherine Enos they adapted to the different roles wonderfully – very well done to them all.

The set changes were well managed by the crew.  The back cloths were stunning and the props were very well made as were the additional set pieces.  The costumes were perfect for the production - not an easy feat when the audience expectation is that they will match a technicolour MGM film.  Shoes (a personal obsession) were also perfect for all the characters and so important with a storyline built around ruby slippers.   Light and sound enhanced the production and lighting effects were especially well used in a number of scenes.  Congratulations to the Performers, Production Team, Backstage Crew, Front of House Team along with the Committee on a great production.

And finally…. There are so many important messages in Baum’s timeless tale – I think one of the most relevant is to “Keep home in your heart and you can always return to it”.  I very much hope that wherever these young people travel too, both geographically and in their careers, that they will keep DOS in their hearts as it always comes across a fabulous society who give so many opportunities to their younger members.

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