"The Wizard Of Oz"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Who has not seen the iconic 1939 film starring Judy Garland, it was only on TV last week again, and I never tire of watching this magical story, whether it be on stage or on TV. It's hard to believe but there were people in tonight who have not seen the film!

Dorothy Gale lives on a farm in Kansas with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and her little dog, Toto. It tells the story of how a tornado sweeps her, her home and Toto to a magical land called Oz, how she manages to eradicate the Munchkins from the Wicked Witch of The East by flattening her when the house lands on her.

On the way to meeting the Wizard, so she can get back home to Kansas she meets, and helps The Tinman, Scarecrow and The Cowardly Lion while the quartet have a few scary adventures on their way.

The show starts quite cinematically, which immediately took me back to being a kid, watching the film cuddled up on me Mam and Dad's settee and keeping a cushion close by for the first appearance of the Wicked Witch of The West, played in the film by Margaret Hamilton.

Dorothy is played by Aviva Tulley, who I've only seen on TV on the rare occasion where a piece from a musical is called for and "The Wizard Of Oz" is the chosen option. Seeing and hearing Aviva on stage is something completely different though. There's not many who can match the innocence and vocals of Judy Garland, but hearing Aviva sing "Over The Rainbow" on stage gave me tingles. There'll never be another Garland, but we don't want another Judy, not when Aviva does such a great job.

Toto is played by Abigail Matthews, well, when I saw played by Abigail, what I mean is that Toto is a puppet dog. The initial impact of this takes a minute to acclimatise to but, like any good puppeteer, once you get used to the puppet character, you forget about the person who has a hand in bringing the character of Toto to life.

Uncle Henry is played by David Burrows and Aunt Em/Glinda is played by Emily Bull. I had to smile when Glinda said that she flies everywhere; well that is probably true, when she is not riding a pink electric scooter.

The Scarecrow/Hunk is played by Benjamin Yates. Now "The Wizard Of Oz" is quite a camp film, and Benjamin's version of The Scarecrow is the campest one I have seen. That glint in Benjamin's eye though shows us he recognises this fact and plays up to it wonderfully. There's a comment made when Dorothy first meets The Scarecrow and he is telling her which direction to choose. He says that "some people swing one way, and other people swing the other way, and some people......" and all done with an impish look on his face. Oh! and then there's the comment of the pole.... well, I won't give too much away, but needless to say, both actor and character bring a naughtiness to the show that will be recognised by the adults but maybe not by the younger musical theatre goers.

The Cowardly Lion/Zeke is played by Nic Greenshields. This is a brilliant role for any comedic actor and Nic brings the comedy to this role. It also helps that Nic is quite a tall actor and towers over the other three, giving the mighty cowardly king of the jungle standing and kudos. Listen out as well for some nice modernisms from this lion king, delivered with pride. Also look out for the background scenery because there are nods to some more modern musicals to spot.

The Tinman/Hickory is played by Femi Akinfolarin. In some of the shows on this tour, this role has been played by Aston Merrygold from JLS. His dance background stood Aston in a great position for this role. Femi is just as adept in the choreographic department, bringing the Tinman into a  street style of dance, again creating a fresh feel to the musical without straying far from the original appeal.

The Wicked Witch of The West/Miss Gulch is played by The Vivienne. I'll readily admit that I've been a long time fan of The Vivienne and seeing her in this role just cements my admiration for her as an artist. The Wicked Witch of The West is one of those characters you love to hate, and while we carry on that tradition of hating the character, the reception The Vivienne received at the final bows just shows how much she is loved by her audience. seeing The Vivienne's face on the big backdrop and front gauze screen in the role of the green-faced Witch straight away transported me back to that safety cushion that was not available. Especially as I am now an adult and don't need one! The Vivienne has got a really impressive set of vocals going on as well.

The Wizard/Professor Marvel is played by Alex Bourne, who we saw last at the Theatre Royal as Daddy Warbucks in the last tour of "Annie". I know that all actors in musicals are required to have good voices - after all it's a musical - but Alex's voice is one of the strongest, in a cast with very strong vocals.

A large ensemble and swing team consisting of Adam Craig, Cole Dunn, Tyler Ephraim, Olivia Kate holding, Thomas Kalek, Sadie Levett, Kelsie-Rae Marshall, Martin McCarthy, Rose Ouellette, Fanja Parent, Alexandra Regan, Nathan Routledge and Sydney Spencer. Another area of the show who really earned their money tonight.

Directed by Nikolai Foster, whose name is synonymous with Leicester Curve, which is where this production originated.

Choreographed by Shay Barclay who created an exciting piece for the big ensemble.

The costumes, as well as the puppet design is by Rachel Canning, and apt to have puppetry as we are into the Nottingham Puppet Festival 2024 are fantastic. Just take a look at the photos because words can not describe fully some of the updated versions of the original film's costumes.

The incredible wigs, hair and wonderful make up design are all by Elizabeth "Betty" Marini.

Colin Richmond's set design is quite sparse for a show of this size, but some sections of the set design were spectacular; I won't give anything away but the scene in the Wicked Witch's lair was quite scary.

Projection use is now used in many big, as well as local, productions and adds even greater depth to the staging and set design. This particular projection design is by Douglas O Connell and the transportation feel is quite dizzying. 

Musical Director is Iestyn Griffiths, who surprised me by his youth. When he showed his head above the curtain partition at the end, I was expecting someone much older but this young man obviously knows his stuff because the sound emitting from the orchestra pit was gorgeous.

In this 2024 production we have some of the original songs from the soundtrack, adapted by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Jeremy Sams, but there are also additional songs from the pen of Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice, including a lovely original song called "Already Home".

Sound design is by Adam Fisher. Some may say that the volume was too loud, but for me I loved the power of the sound. No complaints from me though about the volume as it created that zing. Head of Sound is Will Jackson.

Lighting design is by Ben Cracknell. What can I say? All the effects and lights just created magic alone. Head of lighting and video is Aaron Carter.

This musical is one of those classics, but this production, while feeling like a classic also had a lovely fresh feel and sound, keeping that magic ongoing. For me the show was over all too soon, and with just a triple click of my own ruby slippers, well... you know the rest.

"The Wizard Of Oz" is pure magic and doesn't miss a trick, and can be seen at the Nottingham Theatre Royal only until Saturday 13 April, after which it'll disappear and land in another city.