The St. Helens Theatre Royal must be one of the most widely used theatres in the country with a varied line-up of theatre, comedy and musical acts. This is doubtless in no small part to both a consistency of quality and maintaining an enthusiastic local following. Both of these were very much evidenced in 'The Wizard Of Oz', which boasted an impressive array of nationally-recognised talent from the Merseyside and Lancashire areas.
This production of 'The Wizard Of Oz' was essentially a pantomime aimed very much at younger audiences but that did not preclude it from being a thoroughly entertaining show for all ages. This was evidenced very much in the music which started with a couple of Rogers and Hammerstein numbers from the 1950s (Kansas does border Oklahoma after all) and later had a female rendition of '70’s rock classic ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ and '70’s disco hit ‘Ring My Bell’. There were also plenty of more contemporary songs featured, giving the show a very varied musical feel.
A great feature of 'The Wizard Of Oz' is the number of distinctive memorable characters, all having very identifiable images as well as personalities. There was no attempt to re-invent with wheel with Dorothy, the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man all looking very much in keeping with the famous 1939 film version. Interestingly, the Wizard and the Wicked Witch of the West were played by considerably younger actors than those in the famous movie. This gave a more youthful feel to the production; it is after all hard to imagine the haggard witch in the film wearing a high-split, figure hugging dress and high heels!
What made this show really memorable was the spirited and funny acting of the main characters with the characterisations were well observed. Mia Molly played a slightly more confident Dorothy than might be familiar but this fitted in well with the panto dynamic and she was often the ideal ‘straight man’ in comedy routines. Reece Sibbald did an excellent job of playing the Scarecrow whilst doubling up as the link-man with the audience as well as performing a very funny gag falling off-stage. Scott Gallagher was great as the cowardly lion whilst Harry Moore was good though curiously camp as the Tin Man; a justifiable liberty perhaps taken since this was a panto without a dame! Abigail Middleton was too much of a sexy witch to be taken as being truly evil but she was very funny. Adam Melville’s youthful wizard almost had something of the Johnny Depp about him and this different take on the role fitted in with the general feel of the show.
The settings were largely multi-layered backcloths with little staging but the overall effects were both pleasing and convincing, from a Kansas farm to the Emerald City, including impressive animations, particularly for the cyclone scene. The central focus was upon the costumes that were both vibrant and varied. There were effectively two different groups of dancers performing both jointly and doing separate routines, generally with distinctive costuming, which helped give the impression of a big show. The dancing itself was of high quality which, unusually for a pantomime included a tap dancing scene.
The story closely followed the thrust of the plot in the movie (which differs quite a lot from the original book) although it was condensed, partly to allow for the inclusion of other set piece items in keeping with the panto feel. These generally worked although a well-executed circus puppetry scene appeared to come out of no-where with no follow-on part in the story. Also the scarecrow in a very funny scene found himself the victim of a debilitating spell put upon him by Witch but in the next scene seemed to have made a sudden recovery without any explanation.
This was a vibrant, energetic and very funny show that succeeded well in entertaining both young and not so young. A genuine feel-good experience.
Reviewer - John Waterhouse
on - 12.2.22
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