THEATRE REVIEW: The Wizard Of Oz - The Playhouse, Leeds.

I arrived at the newly refurbished, and recently rebranded, Leeds Playhouse (which was, the West Yorkshire Playhouse) and was very impressed with the upgrades that they have done to the building, bringing it bang up to date, with its new stylish interior, and remarkably comfortable seats, which were great for our pre-show celeb spotting, as the cast of Emmerdale were dotted around the audience this evening, which was exciting.

The performance of The Wizard Of Oz was a very well thought-out masterpiece of classic musical theatre, in a 21st century set and stage design, all adapted to the unique stage at the playhouse, which if you’ve not been before, is a hexagon, which leans out into the audience, for a more intimate experience.

The show benefitted tonight from a bespoke set, build for purpose, with a revolving floor, and copious amounts of circular design. The early set, in Kansas, is understated, and simple (also permanent) so throughout there is barbed wire, and the silhouette of a farmhouse, but it didn’t detract from the overall image. We see the cast all in plain colour clothes, a wash of creams, beiges and browns, Dorothy is in a jumpsuit, not the usual summer dress we are accustomed to seeing. The story goes on, and the tornado is here, Dorothy’s (Lucy Sherman) family have hidden in the bunker, and Dorothy and Toto (Doris) go to hide in the house. The tornado sequence is well done, a mesh curtain dropped down, and 2 aerial silk dancers appeared. They swirled around, representing the weather, as a projector shone images on to the mesh, with buildings and farmyard tools swirling around.

Once in the land of Oz, we are greeted with a wealth of colour, as is often the case with this show, a wash of bright lights, boldly coloured costumes and of course, sequins. We are introduced to Glinda, (Angela Wynter), who instructs Dorothy of what she must do. And along the yellow brick road she goes.

This is where the show goes a bit tech mad. There was no yellow brick road, but instead, a roaming projector with an animated brick road, which Dorothy and the now puppet Toto (Puppeteered by Ailsa Dalling) head off on. Until now, the set had been backed by a large screen, covering the whole stage, showing images of clouds, and other background scenery, but that had lifted, leaving a semi-circular void, which was filled with a train carriage. As Dorothy travelled along, on one side, she met the Scarecrow, (Eleanor Sutton), who shares with her his worry of not having any brains, the set then rotates, and we are introduced to the Tin Man, (Sam Harrison), who tells of his woes of his long lost ex-boyfriend, and then we meet failed, yet fabulous boxer, the cowardly Lion (Marcus Ayton) the team is all together and off they go to find the Emerald City. Their travels are constantly troubled by the mean, yet often hilarious, Wicked Witch of the West, (Polly Lister) and their story continues as you would expect, and they do, all live happily ever after. Unless you’re the Wicked Witch!

The set as we got to the Emerald City was a wash of green and sparkles, the outer wall built of a giant circular structure, which was swung in and out throughout the rest of the show. Once revealed, there was minimal set, but what there was, was used to great effect.

There was one small faux-pas, when trying to break Dorothy out of the witch’s tower, the Tin Man swung his axe a little over zealously, and genuinely broke through the door, which then left a gaping hole in the set, which, when the projector shone upon it, there was a portion missing. I imagine, set designer, Simon Higlett was grateful for that. But, that aside, Higlett and his team have done a great job using the space and filling it appropriately.

I’ve mentioned the costumes previously, and they were remarkable. Dorothy started off as I said, in a jumpsuit, but then when they were all cleaned up at the Emerald City, she appeared in glorious colour, sporting, of course, the famous blue and white checked dress, and the amazingly shiny ruby slippers. The Lion, was dressed as a boxer, with the robe, shorts and his paws, were actually boxing gloves, designed like lions paws. The Tin Man, started off covered in rust, and then was all shiny when cleaned up, and the Scarecrow, who was now in a patchwork jumpsuit. This team was also led by Simon Higlett, who appears to have been a very busy man!

The sound and lighting team were on form tonight, showing how its done. Everything was just about perfect from them tonight, nothing was overstated, or over done, yet it didn’t seem like it was missing anything. Bravo.

Along side them was the video team, led by Simon Wainwright, who had a good night too. Most of the scenery was on screens, and enhanced the performance somewhat, and didn’t distract from the actors on stage.

The choreography was fairly sparse throughout the show, until of course, the fiendish Jitterbug routine, where the whole cast were in sync, absolutely nailing this marvellous swing sequence, Lucy Cullingford and her dance captains did a great job pulling that together, as well as the rest of the movements on stage. Bravo once again.

Until the very end of the show, when the band were shown on screen, I wouldn’t have known that there was a live band, as they were off in the depths of the stage, but led by the wonderful Tamara Saringer, the band sounded great, and the highest compliment that could be paid to them was they sounded like it was a CD playing. Wonderful playing.

Doris the dog. Doris. The dog. Bless her. A little scottie dog that stole the show whenever she was on stage. Basically, the rest of the cast were completely ignored when she was on stage, as people, being people, watched the dog wander around and comically, steal a sausage. And then, at the end of the show, when we came back from Oz, and was supposed to come back on stage, she got scared, and dragged Dalling into the wings. Bless. What was that old saying? Something about children and animals..

Director James Brining, has crafted a brilliant show here, and everyone who is going to see it over the next two months, is going to come away afterwards feeling uplifted, and elated to have done so. The cast and creatives have done a brilliant job this evening, and you all should be proud of your show.

Reviewer - Simon Oliver
on - 26/11/19