"The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz - The Pantomime" by The Watson Players.

Landau Forte College, Derby.

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" sees Dorothy and her little dog Toto joined in The Land of Oz, by her Aunt Em, which is where the story starts.

Unfortunately, Aunt Em’s house lands right on top of Zelda, the wicked witch of the East, crushing her flat. Her sister Olga, the wicked Witch of the West arrives and threatens Dorothy and Aunt Em with dire consequences, if they don’t hand over her deceased sister’s magic ruby slippers which are now on Dorothy’s feet.

Dorothy and her friends set off for the mysterious Emerald City, and are joined by Scarecrow, Tinman and Cowardly Lion, to meet the Wonderful Wizard Of Oz to ask for his help.

I was wondering if a pantomime version of such an iconic musical would work; after all there are no songs from the original musical and, as it's pantomime, the songs are all relatively well known. The main characters also take on a new feel while still keeping to the original storyline.

Dorothy is played by Ciara Beighton, who has managed to get that Dorothy voice and accent sounding just right. There's an instant likeability to Ciara which grows throughout this show. A lovely voice and a character that comes across as more modern than the film and musical version of Dorothy.

Mik Horvath plays Aunt Em. It's not the first time that I've seen Mik in a frock and he is a very natural Dame character. The double entendres and saucy comments are what you look for in a Dame, something that you would not associate with the Aunt Em character, but the script lends it self very naturally to the other characters like the tinman, who needs oiling because of him being stiff, and the Scarecrow and stuffing. So many of these jokes are new to me and, while delivered well, didn't seem to hit home with the audience... until the second act, which shows that the majority of the audience needed a bit of oiling themselves! Mik is a class act and worked hard to nail those saucy comments.

Scarecrow is played by Wayne Perry. There's a nice feeling of character infusion with Scarecrow, as well as an enhanced fun element. The teasing of Ugg and Lee on their first meeting straight away made you feel that this Scarecrow was different to any other Wizard Of Oz Scarecrows seen in the past.

Tin Man is played by Gary Rowley. No stiff performances from Gary and his chopper. Visually Tin Man shone, literally shone, and I love the costume - I had one very similar back in the Eighties, during my single life clubbing days, but I just looked like a walking glitterball.

Jake Perry plays The Cowardly Lion. I don't think that I have ever made it a secret that The Cowardly Lion has always been my favourite Wizard Of Oz character. I loved the character that Bert Lahr, the actor who played the role in the original musical film, gave to this king of the jungle, and Jake completely encapsulates those characteristics and adds more to this pantomime version.

Jack Woolley plays The Wizard. Typically we don't see the Wizard until the second act and is shown initially as quite a scary ogre character with a menacing roaring voice. This panto version is very child friendly and is first seen as a green muppet type character covered in green fur. Jack's voice acting comes to the fore in this role as the little green fellow. When we see Jack as The Wizard, he reminded me slightly of a friendly leprechaun in the costume that has been made for The Wizard, and as much fun as a mischievous little Irish fellow.

Ugg is played by Lou Jenkins and Lee is played by Karen Jones, the comedy double act that every pantomime needs. They are great fun to watch and have that comedy pairing chemistry as well as the boundless energy that is needed to keep this fast moving production whizzing along.

The Wicked Witch of the West is played by Angela Swift. I love panto baddies - I've even had the joy of playing one myself - and Angela is brilliant as this nasty character. Angela, who I first saw as Marge in The Watson Players production of "Caramba's Revenge" last year, shows a very different side to her acting as this evil witch, and I loved every second of stage time that she had as this character. Angela really throws herself into this role and easily gets the biggest reaction from the audience every time she stepped on stage. I bet that Angela is having an absolute ball as The Wicked Witch.

The North Witch is played by Patricia Church and The South Witch is played by Rai Robinson, distinguished by accents and both wonderful fun as they help Dorothy and her troupe on their journey through Oz.

Prince Smarmy is played by Jessica Baird-Swinburn. Another brilliant twist on the panto Prince, and another of my favourite characters in this production. In my head I had images of Lance Percival (ask your parents) and Kenneth Williams (ask them again) when I closed my eyes to place that voice for Prince Smarmy. The duet with the Princess Porlain on "The Song That Goes Like This", originally from the musical "Spamalot", was performed wonderfully and Jessica and Abbi really brought out that brilliant comedy element needed to extract the maximum reaction. 

Princess Porlain is played by Abbi Pritchard, who as far as I can remember, I have not seen before. With that flowing blonde wig, she actually reminded me of a very young Sue Nicholls (ask your parents or watch Coronation Street as Sue is Audrey on the cobbles). The Princess is just a bit ditzy, but there is a reason for that, which is given in the storyline, and is a nice twist to the standard Princess character in pantomimes.

Munchkin-Cong, the leader of the Munchkins, is played by Lauren Wells. There is a nice subtle joke in there when Munchkin-Cong reveals her name, whcih I won't spoil, but it took me a few minutes for the cleverness of the joke to sink in.  

Guardian of the City is played by James Ash. James brings out the complete "jobsworth" attitude in this character as well as the character's self importance perfectly.

Radio Announcer's Voice is by Graham Swift right at the start of the show. Thank Goodness that Graham is too busy acting to present his own radio show as that would be a big rival for me!!

Dancers Melissa Pugh and Georgia Barkes double as Flying Monkeys, and the most glittery of Flying Monkeys I have ever seen in The Wizard Of Oz. Love those costumes.

The Munchkins/Ozians are played by James Ash, Georgia Barkes, Mel Pugh and Lauren Wells.

Stage Managers are John Woolley and Brian Hartshorn who made sure that, with the stage crew Mike Moss and Percy Hartshorn, everything was rolled on and off in a timely fashion, keeping everything flowing with great pace.

Director Liz Woolley and Assistant Director Jack Woolley have managed to combine both art forms of pantomime and musical theatre together in one smooth blending.

Musical Director Joy Gravestock with Assistant Musical Director Jo Baird-Swinburn and lead the very musical band with Joy on violin and Jo on keyboards, plus Clive Jones (guitar), Ryan Latham (saxophone) and Mick Oxley (percussion). A great sound from this little band who were tucked away but on show, downstage left. Their sound was as smart as their appearance. 

I mentioned that the majority of the songs used are well known, as well as very catchy. "Everything Is Awesome" set the tone right at the start and if this cast's version of The Proclaimers "500 Miles" don't get your feet going, nothing will. Also loved hearing "Friendship", from the musical "Anything Goes" again which slipped into the storyline so well and sung by Dorothy, Aunt Em, The Cowardly Lion, Tinman and Scarecrow.

Choreographer Sharon Stringer has created a nice, simple (probably not as simple as these actors made it look), choreography which kept that fun feeling flowing.

The costumes are mainly created by the very talented group of people known as The Crafty Ladies. I should call them sewists - a blend of sewers and artists - because those costumes are incredible. Just take a look at the photographs. There are several costume changes for many of the actors, which shows just how many different costumes these ladies have to create. The costumes are designed by Patricia Church.

Lighting design and operation is by Liz Woolley and Lee Hartshorn, providing a lovely colourful area for these actors to be illuminated on.

Sound design is by the Landau Forte Technical Staff.

The Scenic design that we see as the backdrop to the set is by John Woolley and Brian Hartshorn, with the Scenic Artist being Alison Hartshorn.

Construction for the stage set by John Woolley, Brian Hartshorn, Lee Hartshorn and Mike Moss. A simple design that served the cast well.

As I said at the start, I was not sure quite what to expect from a panto version of such an iconic musical film, but the Watson Players have produced a fresh and funny, as well as very entertaining version of Nigel Holmes' panto script. The story does not stray far from the original, but what it does do is cut out chunks of the story to streamline it, and then add all the elements of pantomime, and still comes in at just a little under three hours long, including interval. You get a load of bang for your buck here, and carries on the tradition for a very entertaining evening with the Watson Players.

The Watson Players, via this pantomime, are raising money for Treetops Hospice and "The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz" will be at Landau Forte College until Sunday 23 February. Perfect for your half term entertainment.