Visiting the "Wizard Of Oz"

"Wizard Of Oz" - London Palladium, 27th November, 2011

So staying over a Sunday in London is never great as a musical fan. Unlike back at home the choice you have in London is rather small. Unfortunately the Brits seem to like their Monday - Saturday schedule. So out of the few choices I had "Wizard Of Oz" was the only show I fancied to see.

Luckily that show does day seats (okay, TKTS sold tickets for 40 GBP, but even that was too much for me) for 25 GBP. Got there just after 9am with box office opening at 10am to be the first and only one till around 9.45am. Great.... But got my front row seat (slight restricted) on the aisle (leg space!) so that was then easily sorted.

And after a lovely morning/early afternoon then with a friend I was off to see the show.

Main Roles: Dorothy - Danielle Hope The Wizard - Michael Crawford Scarecrow - Paul Keating Lion - David Ganly Tin Man - Edward Baker-Duly Glinda - Emily Tierney The Wicked Witch from the West - Lizzii Hills (understudy)

The Wizard Of Oz is another show I had not seen before. I had seen a play based on it and of course I know the movie with Judy Garland but actually the musical did not appeal to me when it opened in London beginning of the year and now I know why.

It is far too cheesy for me, the story actually rather lame and the music nothing special. You can see in this production that they blew the budget with the incredible set, the stunning costumes but I was left rather cold despite Danielle Hope's most touching performance as Dorothy.

Picked for the role of Dorothy by the public on the BBC show "Over The Rainbow" she was certainly a star combining innocence and sweetness with competence and confidence, her "(Somewhere) Over The Rainbow" was so beautifully sung. Not only does she have a lovely pure voice, but so many emotions covering various spectrums came through that number and through her whole performance that I could not be anything else but totally smitten with her. She finds such a real spirit with the others in the cast

The only tiny thing if anything I slightly miss is that she is not really a vulnerable Dorothy as Judy Garland portrays the part but then this is just an unimportant minor issue.

Michael Crawford as the wizard/professor Mavel is a total disappointment for me. He has so little stage presence and comic brilliance, not that I think he ever had much but this is the man who once played the largest roles in other shows and now all I can see onstage is this semi retired performer who sings rather poorly a few rather average indifferent songs – I am wishing while watching him he would fully retired.

To see Paul Keating back onstage after having seen and loved him as Seymour in “Little Shop Of Horrors” is a treat. His scarecrow is a balanced mix between dumbness, dumpiness and heartiness, just as I had pictured the scarecrow to be like. He never goes OTT and has a superb baritonal voice sounding rather light-hearted.

Edward Baker-Duly as the grimly Tin Man is very enjoyable, though could be a more tinny occasionally. David Ganly as the lion tough is a far too camp lion for me. I am aware that that is done intentionally for me it just is too much after two minutes and it just makes me cringe. The ridiculous lion costume does not help either making him look rather sad and not just because his lion is a coward but then I suppose since he is "proud to be a friend of Dorothy"... Well you may know what this stands for these days. Or shall i see this as some kind of pantomime (which I cannot stand)???

Marianne Benedict was unfortunately out but her understudy was a good replacement for her. Not really scary, I actually had expected the odd really young child to scream as experienced at some other shows, but it did not happen, but still very malevolent, mad and vicious. She actually has the most surprising scene for me in the show when at one point she flies/hangs over the audience's heads with so much vigour.

Emily Tierney though as Glinda, the good witch is rather boring for me. Yes, it might not be the most challenging role but I wished there was more energy, and I do not mean being OTT and squeaky, in her performance. I am also not keen at all on her voice, far to shrill for me! I want Glinda to be elegant, adorable, classy, someone with style, not with how they look but how they act, move and speak and I do not get this from this performance.

Ensemble is entertaining doing a good job as much as I can judge it, I though will never be a fan of some people in it who seem to get jobs after jobs while people I consider more talented not being so lucky, but then I suppose they are just “right” for the roles.

The secret star in this show though of course is Toto, Dorothy's dog and it is definitely most adorable and am surprised to see how well the dog reacts to the commands in the various scenes.

The choreography by Arlene Phillips, while chipper, is though sometimes making me cringe as it just not suits the scene for me properly (the munchkin scene makes me cry, yes cute to see the kids but the choreo for that - ouch.....) but never I am used to that from Ms Philips and it helps that it often is overshadowed by the incredible set.

The detail to the colour schemes as the Kansas sepia colours and the Oz Technicolor bright feast is just magnificent.

The cyclone that transports Dorothy and her Kansas homestead to the Land of Oz is certainly looking great though with me sitting so close to the stage it did not really worked but am sure sitting further away it must look incredible.

The Yellow Brick Road is on a tilted revolve from inside which poppyfields and other items emerge, the emerald city looking very green and bright and the wicked witch's home looks like a native tribal Gothic dungeon if that makes any sense. ;)

The costumes are also just stunning, just perfect, so detailed that I wonder actually why they they couldn't spend as much time on giving the characters more edge and heart as they did on the set and the costumes.

Well as said the music is rather average. Of course there are the classics as "(Somewhere) Over The Rainbow", "We're Off To See The Wizard" and "Follow The Yellow Brick Road" arranged and performed tightly and excellently (and how entertained I was by some in the orchestra especially one who was imitating Michael Crawford whenever he was onstage, hilarious and funny. He should have been onstage) but the new additions are not more than acceptable and totally forgettable once you have heard them.

The only song I have hummed since then is "Off To See The Wizard" but that is mainly as it has become some kind of a standing joke with all my trips to the theatre in the last days.

Well anyone looking out for a spectacle am sure will love this production, but I do not think I will visit the wizard again as it could have been so much more if it only had a heart just as the tin man. If you want a family outing and really want something with a heart go and see Matilda. :)