THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ

Everyone knows the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, starring the legendary Judy Garland as Dorothy. This pantomime script by Nigel Holmes was based on the original L Frank Baum book and, although it included the quest for Scarecrow’s brain, Tin Man’s heart, Lion’s courage and Dorothy’s way home to Kansas, very little else was recognisable from the oft performed Wizard of Oz.

Of course a pantomime must contain bad overcome by good, so the good witch(es) and the bad witch were there and the panto Dame in the guise of Aunt Em! Played by Ian Magee, he was a larger than life character who related well to everyone on stage and had good rapport with many friends in the audience! Obviously an experienced ‘dame’ he was never lost for words (even if they weren’t in the script!) and had endless energy. For the purposes of the story, Aunt Em landed in Oz with niece Dorothy played by Brenda Semple. In her programme biog. she remarked that she was the oldest Dorothy ever seen, but her age gave her experience and she brought great empathy to her role. Carrying (toy dog) Toto in her basket all the time gave much opportunity for jokes, reminding me of Brian Conley’s “It’s a puppet!” on his TV show (who is old enough to remember that?!)

Grant O’Neill played the Scarecrow, impressively never forgetting his loose limbs. He longs for a brain but showed himself to be the most thoughtful of Dorothy’s companions. Gerald McQuilken took the role of the Tin Man who is seeking a heart – a difficult part to play as the character can seem a bit colourless – but he always showed concern for the others. Lion was played by Sean McLaughlin who adopted many traits from the Wizard of Oz film and the children in the audience showed him special fondness and sympathy. Azlina Cohen and Caitlin Morgan were good witches from the North and South who appeared occasionally to support Dorothy on her way while Joan McLaughlin was the Wicked Witch of the West. Joan worked very hard to provoke reaction from the audience and performed her songs with panache. Ugg and Lee (together we are ug-ly) were played by Ann Darcy and Nicole Liken as the all-purpose comedy duo – popping on and off stage at frequent intervals to act the edjit! They were a children’s favourite and, with a bit more practice on timing, will become very good indeed. Dylan Neill was true to his character name as Prince Smarmy! I loved his tiny legs in the huge balloon pants! His searched-for princess was played in true panto style by Alison Lundy as she floated on and off! Dylan and Alison’s duet was a lot of fun. Other supporting roles – Munchkin-Cong (Tierna Fielding), the Wizard (Ryan Fleming) and the Guardian of the Gate (Rodney Byrne) were well filled and enthusiastically played with the latter causing great hilarity as he was prompted by cast members!

It was great to see such inclusion in the cast – very young to (very!) old; abilities and disabilities. The young man of small stature in the chorus was big in personality and a joy to watch. All chorus performed well to their capabilities – the young ones helped and encouraged by older ones. It is always delightful to watch the efforts of little ones starting their theatrical journey! A good idea to give the ‘Babes’ their bow before the interval so that they could go home to bed. Singing from the whole chorus was pretty good considering their tender years and all the principals wore body mikes so overall sound was effective. Lighting and Effects were very good – especially the colour pyrotechnics to announce the arrivals of good or bad witches, and there was an excellent UV scene. Lovely brightly painted cloths backed most of the scenes and colourful costumes appeared throughout. All praise must go to the wardrobe mistresses for their hard work in making the costumes, especially the witches and extraordinarily inventive dresses for Aunt Em who had a new one every time she came on stage! The multi coloured striped socks worn by a majority of the cast were really effective too. The detail on costumes and make-up (which I saw close up in the green room at the interval) was amazing! MD Azlina Cohen’s 5-piece band led by Deirbhile Doherty played sympathetically for those on stage and added lots of noisy effects when appropriate! Occasionally recoded tracks were used. Although not many real singers on stage, all combined well to put over the well-chosen pop songs.

Choreography was bright and suitable for abilities and styles of music. Andy Byrne directed a bright pantomime with fun for the children and plenty to local references and ‘double entendre’ for the adults.

My thanks for the invitation, for interval hospitality and to all cast and crew for an entertaining evening. It’s ages since I watched or performed in a pantomime and it brought back many happy memories!

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