Wizard Of Oz youth edition

It was a wonderful touch to find we were to travel along the yellow brick road from the entrance to our seats, which had been repositioned from the last production, a truly inspired idea to ensure your audience begin the journey to Oz before the production started. It was also great to see the members of the front of house all dressed in appropriate outfits.

The Wizard of Oz is a well know musical with iconic musical numbers so it was interesting to see how this large, talented young group of young people were going to whisk us along to the mystical land of Oz.  Your Director and Producer had obviously spent many hours training the large cast well to work collaboratively to perform as a well-knit group and the Musical Director had spent many hours rehearsing the well-known numbers and teaching the children to project without the need of amplification. All these hours of work produce a show of high quality.  This production used tracks throughout which meant that it was potentially hard for the cast to stick strictly to the timings, but this never seemed a problem.  The tracks that were used were very good and contained an array of orchestral instruments.  The cast sang some lovely harmonies in parts too.

The stage was set up with steps down to the auditorium and an additional part to the right. The lights were set on the stage and stage left and right. They were used very effectively to enhanced the scenes and characters on the stage in particular was great in adding to the overall tension, tone and layering of each scene.  The projected Surrender Dorothy certainly got the witches point across and the sound effects during the performance added reality to scenes. These and the backing tracks were well controlled from the back of the hall.

The opening set was the brilliantly constructed, a Kansas farm house with its picket fence where Dorothy lives with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, handymen Hunk, Hickory and Zeke and of course her beloved dog Toto. This very clever construction, almost like a black and white film, was made on a revolve and used to demonstrate Dorothy’s travels to and from Oz and an excellent concept.  This house was then moved to the additional staging stage right and used to demonstrate where it landed on top of the Wicked Witch in Oz. The painted backdrops depicted various scenes like the yellow brick road leading to city of Oz and the forest. Brightly painted legs and screens added detail to areas in Oz. There were many additional larger props, I particularly liked the Scarecrow’s stand and the egg timer, which were well used and smaller personal props, the period bicycle was just right, and added detail to scenes. I would like to congratulate your ’Set and Prop Construction’ and ‘Scenery Design and Painting’ teams for the many skills and hours they must have spent to ensure we were all transported from Kansas to Oz and back again. Also, all the scenes were expertly transformed by your hard-working stage crew. All the effort was certainly appreciated by the audience.

I have come to expect wonderful costumes from your society and I was not disappointed. The Kansas costumes were period and looked just right. The four main characters outfits were exceptional. Dorothy looked as expected in her blue and white with blue ribbons. The Scarecrow’s suit and hood looked as if it had been taken off a scarecrow from a field, I liked the way that the straw had been added and additional straw was easily pulled out when required. The Tin Man was amazing, I’m not sure what it was constructed of but it looked so real and the Cowardly Lion’s outfit with its long tail and magnificent mane were reminiscent of the original Oz film costume. Added to these of course was the outfit created for Toto which was just right. The witches were clearly defined by their costumes as were each group within the show. They all represented well and the trees, monkeys and crows were outstanding. The make-up and hair styles add added to the illusion. 

You are extremely lucky to have such a bank of talent in your group to choose from and those chosen to represent your lead characters were well selected. Dorothy has to portray a sweet young lady with inner steal. She loves her family, friends and dog and will not stand for any injustice. Your actor showed all of the above and on top of that had a beautiful clear singing voice. She delivered the iconic ‘Over the Rainbow’ with conviction whilst controlling a wandering Toto.  She was pivotal to the whole production and carried the story throughout with a brilliant accent interacting with the others convincingly and gave a first-class performance I expect to see this young lady perform again soon!

Aunt Em and Uncle Henry the hard-working Kansas farmers who care for Dorothy, they only appeared at the beginning and end of the story but are crucial to the story. The actor playing Aunt Em showed her no nonsense approach to issues but also her caring side and sang the reprise of ‘Over the Rainbow’ clearly. Uncle Henry obviously knew his place in the household but clearly cared for Dorothy. They worked well as a team and had great accents.

Toto was transformed when Dorothy found herself in Oz. Your player did a great job moving around the stage appropriately, being vocal  and protecting his mistress for all he was worth.

The young man playing both the role of the clumsy farmhand Hunk and the Scarecrow was brilliant. He hung connivingly on his wooden frame and seemed to have rubber limbs. He didn’t lose his character throughout, added a bit of comedy and showed a variety of emotions especially with the lighted match. He didn’t forget his body control, maintained his accent, sang clearly with feeling and made the Scarecrow a likeable person.

The next pairing was Hickory and the Tin Man what a joy this actor was to watch! Not once did I see him forget he was made of tin. The movements may have been helped by the costume but WOW what physicality! He spoke in a slow, purposeful manner with a clear accent which I felt added to his character. He demonstrated some lovely vocals in ‘If I only had a Heart’, and showed determination to help his friends.

The next duo was Zeke and the Cowardly Lion who bounced onto stage pretending to be brave only to crumble when Dorothy told him off. He had brilliant comedy timing and his delivery of ‘If I Only had the Nerve’ and ‘If I were King of the Forest’ was exceptional. The movement, the Kansas accent, the facial expressions, the actions with his tail all, the rolling’r’s’, the strutting across the stage all added to a great delivery.

 I would also like to compliment Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion on their joint delivery of the well-known ‘We’re off to see the Wizard’ they delivered it with such optimism not knowing what was to come.

The farmhands may not have been on the stage for long but they added to scenes at the beginning and the end when the house had to be revolved.

I have watched the young lady who portrayed Miss Gulch and the Wicked Witch of the West grow into a talented actor. She clearly created the two different characters. Her portrayal of the supercilious Miss Gulch was brilliant she had the correct manner and stance. She then transformed herself into the fearsome Wicked Witch with the green make-up, I was glad to see someone had realised it needed to be added to after her first entrance. She had a fantastic stage presence and used her voice to convey the determination of this evil character to avenge her sister and possess the Ruby Slippers. It was a great idea of your director to have the witch appear on the top of one of the blocks of seating. It gave the idea that she was able to fly and observe scenes in the show.

Professor Marvel character was well delivered with the travelling cart and the crystal ball and the Wizards dialogue was clearly spoken with good diction.

Glinda the Good Witch of the North looked the part in her beautiful pink dress, crown and wand.  She delivered her lines clearly and calmly with feeling and had some nice vocals.

The Munchkins were all well trained and knew exactly what was expected of them and the Mayor, what a trooper to be determined to perform even though in plaster, the Coroner and the Barrister and made a good contribution both spoken and vocally to the village scenes.

The Crows who looked the part, moved well and certainly made a mess of the Scarecrow. Those depicting the Apple Trees looked the part, spoke clearly and were not going to let their fruit go easily.

When they eventually arrived at Oz, they met the Ozians who sang and danced well and the Doorman and Guard who were protecting the Wizard. Nikko and the Flying Monkeys looked amazing with their flying helmets and fearfully followed the Witches rules.  The Winkie Guards moved around the stage well with the Leader ensuring they were all following orders and the Jitterbugs looked very cool with their black hair, deely boppers and dark glasses and knew their dance.

This was a fantastic show your production team obviously had a clear vision of what they wanted with many nuances to the original movie from the muted beginning to the colourful Oz to the myriad of costumes. The players were all well drilled in speaking clearly, moving well and singing tunefully. After reading your programme you realise a production such as this requires probably more adults behind the scenes.

I was so glad you were able to make use of a voice workshop with Jo Wilson-Hunt, the cast obviously worked hard to use the skills she taught and both her and our President loved the show.

You as a team are offering young people a tremendous opportunity to develop brilliant skills that will last for life. Thank you for the invitation it was an enjoyable evening travelling to the Land of Oz

 Disclaimer 

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what he sees at the performance in question.  The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance and it is inevitable that his assessment will be affected by that knowledge. 

The NODA Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular, the performance.  It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed.  Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre. 

 It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

 

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