L. Frank Baum's book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, has been read by generations of children. With the original Harold Arlen and Edgar Yipsel "Yip" Harburg songs from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, The Wizard of Oz, that starred Judy Garland, plus new music from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, the story is being told again to yet another generation in this production that premiered at the London Palladium in 2011. It should be admitted, though, that there were many adults in the audience without children accompanying them, attesting to the fact that it is not only the very young that love the tale of Dorothy Gale, who is swept away from Kansas into the merry old Land of Oz and wants to go home again. This production is based on the film, rather than the novel. Strangely, I saw no acknowledgement in the programme of the use of Modest Mussorgsky's very well known work, Night on the Bare Mountain, just a statement that additional music was provided by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
MGM took quite a few liberties in the adaptation, which was revised many times by numerous writers before production began. Interestingly, the most iconic symbol in the film, the Ruby Slippers, is an MGM change, the original line in the book telling us that, "There, indeed, just under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet were sticking out, shod in silver shoes with pointed toes." Red stood out better in the new Technicolor process, the shoes being created by costume designer, Adrian Adolph Greenberg, known simply as Adrian. The Witch of the North, too, is described as a "little old woman", not the beautiful young witch that we have come to know through the film. Incidentally, the nasty Miss Gulch, Professor Marvel, and the three farm workers, do not appear in the novel because it was written as a fantasy. MGM turned it into a dream sequence. If you have never done so, now would be a good time to read the book, and Baum's later books that were also set in Oz.
Adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams, and directed by the latter, this production is true to the original film adaptation but with a few touches that bring it up to date, as well as adding all of the technological magic now available to enhance the magical and fantasy aspects of the tale.
Jemma Rix and Lucy Durack were everybody's favourites in Wicked, the modern prequel to this timeless children's classic, and so it was a wise decision that they simply had to be brought back together to, once more, take on the roles of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. I detected, in both witches, a touch of Bernadette Peters, as the witch in Sondheim's Into the Woods, and a strong hint of the Bronx in Glinda, suiting her often tongue-in-cheek reinterpretation of the role.
Having played the younger versions of these characters and gained an insight into them, the two bring their own characterisations to the stage, satisfyingly fresh and vibrant and not just echoes of the film. There is playfulness and humour in Durack's Glinda, and Rix is not as single-mindedly horrible as Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch in the film. They both add depth to their characters, and also bring forward their great rapport from their work together in Wicked.
Anthony Warlow, always popular in Adelaide, as elsewhere, plays Professor Marvel and, of course, the Wizard, that character being given songs of his own by Rice and Lloyd Webber. Frank Morgan had no songs in the film, other than in a minor role that he played, as the cabbie. Here, Warlow sings in both roles, as Marvel and the Wizard, which greatly pleased the audience. His many fans were clearly pleased that his roles were expanded from the film.
Newcomer, Samantha Dodemaide, takes on the central role as Dorothy. In spite of the title, the Wizard actually has only a few short appearances, with Dorothy onstage for the entire performance, a huge role for any performer. She gives a thoroughly delightful performance, with a touch less naivety than Garland's interpretation, suiting the modern world and making her character more accessible to the audience of today.
Toto, Dorothy's canine companion, stole every scene in which it appeared, and got the loudest applause in the final bows, bringing to mind that old theatrical adage, "never work with children or animals". Two dogs, Trouble and Flick, both trained to a very high degree by Luke Hura, share the duties.
It was encouraging that Dorothy's three companions created their own characterisations and did not slavishly copy the performances in the film. Eli Cooper is Hunk and the Scarecrow, Alex Rathgeber plays Hickory and the Tin Man, and John Xintavelonis portrays Zeke and the Cowardly Lion. The Tin Man, of course, has metal feet, and so it was entirely appropriate that Rathgeber engaged in some very stylish tap dancing. Cooper was incredibly loose-limbed as the Scarecrow, shedding parts of himself and retrieving them at intervals, and Xintavelonis was a very Dandy Lion, proudly claiming that he was "a friend of Dorothy", which has other, subversive meanings outside of the story of Oz. Look it up.
The most impressive combination of sets, costumes, lighting, and visual effects, provided by Robert Jones, Hugh Vanstone, Jon Driscoll and Daniel Brodie, almost threatens to overshadow the performances. The production opens in muted tones, reflecting the film's sepia-toned start, bursting into vibrant colour when Dorothy's house drops in on the Land of Oz, as well as the Wicked Witch of the East. Primary and secondary colours abound, with bright blue costumes for the Munchkins, a glittering night-blue ball gown for Glinda, and bright green for the residents of the Emerald City, with a sickly green for the Wicked Witch and blood red for the Winkies, whom she has bewitched to become her automaton-like army.
The orchestra, under musical director, Laura Tipoki, doesn't miss a beat, although the sound mixer could pay a little more attention, as the voices were lost beneath the music at times. The work of the chorus was faultless, and the complex and precise choreography, by Arlene Phillips, too, is captivating.
This is definitely a great family production, with young ones around me quiet as mice and totally absorbed, which is more than I can say for the ignorant woman two seats away who started a running commentary, until I intervened, and couldn't survive for a couple of hours without playing with her mobile telephone a few times, until admonished by an usher. That aside, this was a most engaging and rewarding evening. Don't miss this one.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Thursday 5th April 2018.