Wizard of Oz

I went and saw the show today with my family and despite what some people may claim is bias as I know some of the cast very well, I was extremely impressed. The only real criticism I could give to the show in general was the scene changes were a bit long at times (it broke the flow of the show) and that the band wasn't loud enough when there was no singing (dance breaks, and in particular the scene changes) The main annoyance was actually the audience, they wouldn't be quiet, but thats what I get for coming to a matinee performance of a kids show I guess. I saw Jennifer Wickham play Dorothy and I felt she captured the Judy Garland character part perfectly and how she got through the show with out hyperventilating I don't know. She looked the part, she can act, dance and sing! Somewhere Over the Rainbow was absolutely beautiful! But anyone who saw her perform it in Celebrate earlier last year would expect that!! A very demanding role pulled off brilliantly!!! Can't wait to see more of this actress! Kim Godleman as the Scarecrow was extremely lovable, and very different to anything I've seen him in before (Cinderella's ugly stepsister, and Beauty and the Beasts Lumiere) which was nice. He also did very well in covering the fact that his mike went out half way through act 1, his projection was so well we didn't miss any dialogue, and the 1 solo singing line he had after that point he managed to get into Dorothy's mike. Well Done Kim! Jesse Angus played a sweet tinman, I almost didn't recognise his voice when he first started talking. I liked his little tap dance he did in the Emerald City as well. The only pity was his costume looked a little baggy and didn't look that much like tin I thought. Darren Bilstron did a lovable cowardly lion as to be expected, and had my favourity line from the show, quoting The Lion King. A couple of times the diction was a bit hard to hear what he was saying due to the type of voice he had copying the guy on the movie, but that was a minor gripe in such a lovable performance. All the other leads performed memorable characters each in their own rights, I loved Carole Dhu's villanious Wicked Witch and Karen Godfrey's Glinda, whilst different to what I was expecting seemed like a nice nod to the character of Glinda from Wicked. Toto played by little Rusty (who got his own profile in the program - adorable) was fun when he was on, although it was quite obvious his owners were just side stage where he could see them. Next time perhaps they could hide from his view so he doesn't keep trying to run off stage to them. All the minor leads really stole there scenes beautifully, the Mayor of Munchkinland, the leader of the Winkies and the Winged Monkey are the first ones that come to mind. But I don't think there was a single minor lead I didn't enjoy. The chorus for what little they got to do (its really a show for the big four isn't it) were quite lively and could be heard! (Not an often achieved accomplishment at MPAC) The munchkin kids were very cute and everytime the lively Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead came on the audience were clapping along thouroughly enjoying themselves. The band filled with Luke Savage and his usual lot of professionals did justice to the score. There were times like I said before they needed to be louder but thats really the sound guys job. The only thing I'd really say is there felt like there needed to be more instruments playing sometimes to give a fuller sound. The atmosphere felt a bit lacking particularly in the overture which really is there turn to shine. This is in no way a disrespect to the actual players, I have the deepest respect for Luke and Co. as musicians but lets face it, the poor souls can only play one instrument at a time (although many over the course of the show :P) The sets were a wide range, unfortunately there were times were it looked as if they had run out of budget, such as the Emerald City and the Lion's forest. But others particularly the Munchkinland were absolutely awe inspiring. And just some of the little details that were added here and there (dragonflies that ACTUALLY FLEW out into the audience, and puppet lemurs dancing from out of the music pit) were great. It just would have been nice to see that level of commitment and ingenuity applied to the rest of the show. Biggest gripe was the yellow brick road. Didn't have a problem as such with the lights showing the road in later scenes, but the spiral one at the beginning ended without going anywhere.... poor Dorothy had to follow the yellow brick road and pretend it just kept spiralling until she got offstage.... looked a bit silly. Lighting was good, I didn't read who did it but I presume it was Shane as usual. There was one instant I noticed the Wicked Witch wasn't lit, can't remember right now. The twister could have had lights spinning around the stage to give it a bit more atmosphere which that scene lacked I thought, but otherwise was a nice contrast from the drab Kansas to bright and colourful Oz. Sound was MUCH better than I'm used to seeing in MPAC. This and Singing in the Rain have got to be the only shows I've seen/been in at MPAC which haven't been ruined by the sound problems - so congrats whoever was in charge. There was one glitch with the Scarecrows mike but that was because it got hit on stage and was no-ones fault (plus Kim covered it really well) and that was fixed by half time. I have already mentioned that the band was too quiet in points when there are no characters speaking/singing but the main impressive thing was we could hear EVERYONE ALL THE TIME, from the back row no less - which for MPAC's past record with sound, is brilliant! Costumes were up and down, some good some not so much, I've already commented the Tin Man's didn't really look like Tin as much as someone from a B grade sci fi movie. The Elmerald City looked a bit strange with every one wearing EXACTLY the same thing, but everything else was good. I have to agree Craigo in that I feel that the Centre really doesn't give the Techies enough time to practice the scene changes, get the little technical things worked out the poor wicked witch had this brilliant flame projecting device which shot fireballs, but out of the three times I think she did it it only worked once! And I was told that Carole only got this device ten minutes before opening night! The Direction was sound, coming from the experience Kim Angus, some of the detail and tricks were brilliant. The winkies changing of the guard was brilliant. The magical appearance of Dorothy's ruby slippers was quick and clever and the direction of the characters in general was nicely styled to the movie we all know and love. My only gripe was the decision to freeze the witch instead of melting her. "I'm Melting!, I'm Melting!" is got to be in the top 5 most well known quotes from WOZ and to cut that seems a bit wrong. Wow, I ramble alot, I better stop before I bore everyone completely. To finish it off, the shows a great one to see, sure I may have just thrown in quite a bit of constructive criticism but I did REALLY enjoy the show and I recommend anyone to go see it. I believe its on this week from thursday to sunday. If you happen to know either Jenn Wickham or Ali Hill try to find out which nights they're on so you can see your gal play the part. But I think Jenn is phenomenol on the stage and I hear Ali plays the part brilliantly as well, so no matter which night you go, you'll have a great night in the merry old land of oz.