Max Parker, Jonathan Broadbent, Rhiannon Wallace, Gabrielle Brooks and Andrew Langtree in The Wizard of Oz at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Picture: Johan Persson
The Wizard of Oz continues at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield until 20 January 2018.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
How do you energise a show that is already etched into the memories of 80% of the audience: they enter the auditorium hearing the voice of Judy Garland, mouthing the words to each song and anticipating every gag?
My guess is that director Robert Hastie told the cast to go out there, rely on the quality of the material and trust Sheffield audiences’ generosity and understanding of how musical theatre works.
There is always a temptation to tinker with a classic. There’s none of that at the the Crucible.
We get a belting good Dorothy (Gabrielle Brooks); a reeling Scarecrow (Andrew Langtree); a rather avuncular Cowardly Lion (Jonathan Broadbent); and a show-stealing Tinman (Max Parker). However, these are only four of a large cast that spin the tale of Dorothy’s journey.
Not quite opening in black and white, the first 20 minutes nevertheless provides the dowdy contrast to what is to come. As Dorothy is whirled away by the tornado to the Land of Oz, the stage pivots to reveal a Munchkinland and a backdrop that will become the Emerald City. Designer Janet Bird makes full use of the Crucible’s considerable resources here.
Part of L. Frank Baum’s genius was to make all the characters encountered in Dorothy’s dream in Oz, a facsimile of characters she knew in Kansas.
Catrin Aaron as the Wicked Witch, despite her green face, does not quite have us quaking in our boots, but is more convincing as the dried-up Miss Gulch.
Michael Matus, on the other hand, effortlessly contrasts salt-of-the-earth Uncle Henry with the bemused Emerald City Gatekeeper.
Even Toto, a real dog in the Kansas sequences (drawing ‘aaahs’ from the audience) has an alter ego on Oz, manipulated and voiced by puppeteer Rhiannon Wallace.
Musical director and conductor Toby Higgins deploys the 10-piece band effectively, giving us all the colours from behind a screen of what looks like clothes hanging on a washing line.
Choreographer Ewan Jones has a lot of movement to organise here. There is not just the joyous dance routines – for the children that make up the company of Munchkins, for example – but also for rollerskating monkeys and whirling members of the ensemble depicting the destructive power of a tornado.
The visual pun of lighting the way to Oz via the yellow brick road is a good joke. But this is only a small part of lighting designer Richard Howell’s contribution. Subdued for the Kansas sequences, we are treated to an explosion of colour for Oz.
Oh yes, and rarely mentioned, but the Wizard of Oz programme gets my vote as the best I have seen this year.
Sheffield Theatres’ multi award-winning way with musicals looks safe in the hands of artistic director Robert Hastie.
Mike Tilling
Readers may also be interested in:
Interview – director Robert Hastie on catching the musical bug while staging The Wizard of Oz at Sheffield Theatres
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