Review: Beyond the Rainbow: MSMT Presents THE WIZARD OF OZ Youth Edition

When Dorothy, swept away by the tornado, finds herself transported beyond the rainbow to a land of vibrant color, the audience at Maine State Music Theatre’s final Theatre for Young Audiences production gasps in wonder. The production of the children’s version of the Harold Arlen/Yip Harburg musical with a cast of young professionals and local youth, directed by Betsy Puelle, has transformed the Pickard Theater into a land of pure fantasy and imagination using all the theatrical elements at their disposal. MSMT serves up an evening of song, dance, puppetry, and visual wizardry that is one of the most stunning and enchanting TYA performances seen there in recent years.

This final show of the 2024 TYA series is the fruit of the company’s Summer Theatre Intensive program for youth, offering local students ages 8 to 18 a chance to participate in a professional production and learn from older artists, primarily the MSMT Singers, who have been part of the company all summer. Under the tutelage of Betsy Puelle, who directs, designs, and teaches the children puppetry, the company brings wide-eyed energy and joy to this classic tale.
 

Puelle directs with clarity, humor, and respect for the material. She draws heartfelt performances from the principals and seamlessly integrates the youth ensemble into the mix, giving them their moments to shine. Veronica Druchniak’s choreography is versatile and clever, with character-defining solos for the trio of friends and lively large production numbers in the Munchkin and Jitterbug scenes.

Jacob Stebly serves as Music Director, drawing excellent vocal performances from the young cast and playing the catchy score with enthusiasm.

Puelle has a keen visual eye, as well. Her sets contrast the sepia world of the Depression Great Plains with the kaleidoscopic color of Dorothy’s dream vision.  Her puppet designs are brilliant additions to the overall visual effect, with striking crows, winged monkeys, and an adorable, exceptionally mobile Toto (thanks to puppeteer Matthew Balfour).  These are skillfully meshed with the video projections by Colin Riebel which create one dazzling fantasy realm after another from the rich palette of Munckinland to the snow-covered poppy field, the bright yellow brick road, and the shimmering Emerald City. The ability to morph rapidly from scene to scene adds to the magic of the production, which – judging by the young audience reactions – seems palpably real. The (uncredited) lighting design works to facilitate these transitions and integrate the fantasy realm into the parallel reality of the story. The costumes by Flo Cooley (Kevin S. Foster II, wigs) not only recreate the iconic images of the Four Friends, but also offer highly original, fanciful standouts like Glinda’s opulent lavender gown, the clever Winged Monkey suits and sunshine yellow Jitterbug outfits as well as the lavish Ozian citizens’ garb in multiple shades of green.  Tristan King contributes the effective sound design and manages the many breathtaking A/V special effects.   Megan Franco expertly anchors the production from the stage manager’s booth.

One of the largest TYA casts in recent memory, the twenty-two-person company represents a wide range of ages from the local youngsters who play the Munchkins, Ozians, Jitterbugs, and other ensemble roles, to the young college-age artists in their first professional season. Calista Jones inhabits the role of Dorothy with confidence and grace. She conveys the youthful idealism and wholesomeness of the character, and she brings to the role a graceful vocal presence singing a poignant “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

 
Christian Lane Miller makes a winsome, gangly, endearing Scarecrow; his song and dance number, “If Only I Had a Brain,” is a sweetly comic interlude.
As the Tin Man, Thomas DalCeredo is a gentle presence with compelling vocal and dance skills, while Mark Tran Russ portrays the Cowardly Lion as a lovable creature whose affection for his friends helps him overcome his timidity.

Lav Raman performs Glinda the Good Witch with grace and elegance; she is a regal foil to the Wicked Witch of the West, played to the hilt by Jessica Hoadley, who projects a deliciously nasty fierceness. Nate Kromer is convincing as Professor Marvel posing as the Wizard and suitably vulnerable when his disguise is stripped. Toto is played by a loveable, scraggly Cairn Terrier puppet, who is brought to life ever so convincingly by puppeteer Matthew Balfour.
 

In supporting roles Karoline Brechter and Matthew Balfour make caring, homespun Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, and Brechter gets to use her fine soprano in a lovely duet reprise of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Other notable cameos include Alexa and Allison Largay as impishly dancing Winged Monkeys, Adia Ameswright and Rose Tuttle as the Munchkin Mayor and Coroner respectively.

The rest of the youth ensemble (Caitlin Ellis, Aubrey Favreau, Caroline Hester, Maddie MacLearn, Molly O’Brian, Elinor Riley, Isla Shovlin, Madelyn Sweet, Libby Tetziaff) play a significant role in the action, serving as puppeteers, and bringing their developing vocal and dance skills to production numbers like those with the Jitterbugs and the Munchkins.

In recent years, not only have Maine State Music Theatre’s TYA productions grown in performance values, but, with the addition this year of the new state-of-the-art video technology, they have taken on the look of fully produced main stage musicals. In addition to the magic of the story, the music, the dancing, and the stunning visuals help children enter a realm of enthralling fantasy. To hear the gasps of awe and watch the audience marvel in wrapt attention at the tale that unfolds before them is worth the price of admission itself. These are musicals designed for the young, but they are also delight anyone who is young at heart. MSMT’s WIZARD OF OZ and the theatre’s entire TYA series offers the audience the gift of celebrating the child within us all.

 

Photos courtesy MSMT, Dane Whitlock, photographer

THE WIZARD OF OZ runs for 4 performances at MSMT’s Pickard Theater on the Bowdoin College campus, 1 Bath Rd., Brunswick, ME   207-725-8769   www.msmt.org

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