“There’s no place like Wolves!” Well, there certainly isn’t as Dorothy Gale and her little dog, too, land their wooden house on the stage of the Grand Theatre which they’re calling no place like home for the next few days. “The Wizard of Oz” is, undoubtedly, an iconic, kaleidoscopic, psychedelic trip into the mad and inventive mind of L. Frank Baum who, eager to create a new style fairy tale for a new, burgeoning nation, let his eyes drift to his library index cards one day where the letters O-Z jumped out and he was off down his yellow brick road to literary success.
His unstoppable quill knocked out a dozen or so Oz titles within a few years with further volumes being penned by other authors. Baum, being no slack capitalist, exploited his work in all media – books, stage and film. Way before Judy Garland clicked her heels together, Baum had sold the rights to film producers including an early black and white version starring Oliver Hardy as the Tin man. So the US was more than braced for this industrial age folk-story when MGM unleashed its garishly technicolour, melody-stuffed rendition in 1939 which in turn gave birth over the years following to innumerable revamps, rewrites, reinventions and revivals of which tonight’s very special offering is the latest…
It’s always a joy to see a newly imagined old favourite and Nikolai Foster has imposed a slightly misjudged ersatz 50’s vibe here replete with scooters, beehives etc. which occasionally jars and hides the heartfelt intent of the original. Lloyd-Webber’s brash musical arrangements elbow the joyous melodies out of the way in a desperate attempt to be noticed and even give us a few bland tunes to bolster the score which mainly succeed due to some delightful Tim Rice lyrics.
The Vivienne has a splendid line in invective as the Wicked Witch of the West providing a gloriously venomous character but doesn’t get a puff on her entrance. No puff!!
Aviva Tulley is a delight as Dorothy and Benjamin Yates, Femi Akinfolarin and Nic Greenshield complete the Ozian trio. And the biggest laugh of the evening came from Toto, and his very able assistant Abigail Matthews. It’s an incredible fiesta for the eyes (including some surprisingly tall and denim-clad Munchkins and a few costumes which would not have been out of place in “The Rocky Horror Show”) but has a mixed aesthetic some of which worked well. Beneath all the updated faff, though, the old show is still there, it’s heart still beats and its blissful yearning to home still remains.
Reviewer: Peter Kinnock
Reviewed: 31st July 2024
North West End UK Rating:
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