I love The Wizard of Oz. It is my ultimate escapist world. It also has a special place in my heart because I have been in the show three times and have done tech as a high school director as well. Bringing my nephews to see the world that is as real to me as Hogwarts is to them was a treat for me, if not always for them. (Ahem, Universal Studios – Wicked world?) Unless you totally screw up the play, I am going to enjoy it no matter what. There are different versions of the stage play that can be produced, some that I appreciate more, but I will always escape into that world of friends.
The Children’s Theater Company’s version was almost word for word adapted from the MGM film classic. Upon reflection, it makes sense as most members of the primary audience are most familiar with that version of the story. This show, however, made me realize how long the exposition in Kansas is during the movie version. The pacing of the play seemed particularly…Kansas-like and slow in the beginning. My nephews started poking at each other and you could tell that they were losing interest. I couldn’t blame them. The introduction to each of the characters was meant to make it seem more magical or dreamlike but served mostly to prolong the action that today’s audiences are used to jumping into the first few minutes of a show. Harriet Spencer as Dorothy did a nice job with Somewhere Over the Rainbow, the entire version with the film omitted first verse as well.
I was able to refocus the boys by having them guess how the tornado would be created. As someone who has had to twirl a house across the stage in black, I know that it can be a bit of a trick. The theater made nice use of their scrim as a projection curtain as they screened modified clips from the MGM film. It did, indeed, recapture my nephew’s attention and from there the first act moved quickly. My one issue with the Munchkinland scene was the fact that Glinda, played by Becca Claire Hart, looked so uncomfortable from the safety strap attaching her to her floating bubble it distracted me from her lovely rendition of her solo in the scene. Another departure from the MGM film was the choice to shun the multicolored Oz for the more accurate book colors for each realm. It worked well, and I appreciated the nod to L. Frank Baum. Scarecrow and Tinman, played by Dean Holt and Regina Marie Williams were apt to the roles, though I wouldn’t say their performances were anything outstanding. The shining light of the Fab Four was the Lion, played by Reed Sigmund. His physicality and goofiness were delightful and fun and rivaled the energy of Wicked Witch of the West, portrayed by Autumn Ness.
The second act flew by quickly, with the slowest scenes occurring, once again, back in Kansas. The iconic line, “There’s no place like home,” was almost thrown away, and I wished for a little more conviction in the delivery. I understand that the director didn’t want to end the show on that line, but rather indicate the moment that Dorothy discovered that, in fact, her experience was perhaps not a dream, as she discovered her ruby slippers stowed in her footlocker. For a young audience it perhaps refocused them on the magic – but I am a lover of the idea of “There’s no place like home.”
But of course, for me, any trip to Oz is worth every moment.