This is a very well-known story from the 1939 film starring Judy Garland taking the part of Dorothy in the tale of a young girl from Kansas who is magically transported to the land of Oz and her adventures along the way and the various characters she meets. Based on the original book by Frank Baum, it has become a popular show for theatre productions for many years, and it is nice to see East Cheshire Theatre Company join the long list of groups who have put on this production.
The storyline centres around young Dorothy who lives with her aunt and uncle on a farm in Kansas along with her dog Toto. During a severe tornado, Dorothy and Toto find themselves whisked up in the air, finally landing in what turns out to be the magical land of Oz, where they are greeted by Glinda, a good which, who informs them that the house in which they were travelling has landed on and killed the wicked witch of the east. The somewhat premature celebrations of this event are soon cut short by the arrival of the wicked witch of the west who tries to recover her sister’s ruby red slippers, which are magically transported onto Dorothy’s feet.
Glinda then shows Dorothy the way to the Emerald City, home of the Wizard, via the yellow brick road and along the way she meets the scarecrow (who lacks a brain), the tin man (who wants a heart) and the cowardly lion (who wants courage). When they reach the Emerald City, they meet the wizard who agrees to grant their wishes if they bring him the witch’s broomstick. After a mishap when the scarecrow catches fire, Dorothy throws a bucket of water over him which accidentally splashes the witch causing her to dissolve. They can then take the broom back to the wizard who grants their wishes and Glinda reappears to tell Dorothy how to get back to Kansas using the power of the ruby slippers. As Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home”.
The show was produced and directed by Heidi Fletcher. It was nice for me personally to see a cast made up of people who were new to me. Isabella Fallon, who took on the role of Dorothy, had an excellent singing voice and did a superb job with the show’s stand out song “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” which came right at the beginning of the production. She was accompanied with this by a great orchestra led by musical director Ed Nurse. It makes such a difference to the overall feel of any production to have musicians playing live and this group did an outstanding job. The characters of the main cast all doubled up, with Aidrian Godding combining the roles of Hunk and the Scarecrow, Kriss O’Neill as Hickory and the Tin Man and Adam Garnett as Zeke and the Lion. Francessca Bowman brought the good witch Glinda to life with a super performance including good vocals.
All the children playing the roles of the various Munchkins did a more than competent job with both their singing and choreography (put together by Sally Hilliard) although I did think that more could have been made of the costumes of the Munchkins with a bit of imagination.
Of course, this review would not be complete without mention of the star of the show, the little dog Toto! I don’t know how much training went into the dog’s role, but it was executed without fault and elicited lots of “Ohhs” and “Ahhs” from the audience. A proper little cutie.
I always enjoy seeing East Cheshire Theatre Company’s productions and I look forward to seeing their next show, whatever and whenever that might be.
Produced and directed by Heidi Fletcher. Musical Director Ed Nurse.
Reviewer: David S Clarke
Reviewed: 2nd June 2026.
North West End UK Rating: