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| Members of the original cast of "The Wizard of Oz" (Handout) |
It really isn't fair to compare "The Wizard of Oz," playing at the Fox Theatre through Sunday, to "Wicked." But anyone who's seen "Wicked" at least once will come away from "The Wizard of Oz" feeling a bit underwhelmed.
"Wicked" takes familiar material and enhances it, partly by changing the point of view. Somehow, though, this adaptation of "Oz" manages to mute a lot of the shine and glitz we've come to expect, making even Munchkinland and the Emerald City seem drab.
"The Wizard of Oz," directed by Nigel West, mostly follows the familiar 1939 film — right down to the sepia-toned opening, which was absolutely perfect in execution — but it also takes liberties and adds twists.
Some work; others don't.
Many of the special effects in the show are created with projections, which are astounding to watch — especially the twister scene, which is a spectacle.
But others, namely any scene where a character must fly, are sloppy. Glinda's floating bubble (which looks a lot like Glinda's bubble in "Wicked") is anything but graceful and on opening night never completely disappeared from view after floating offstage. Much of the scenery looks dreary and amateurish.
Given the realistic feel of certain scenes, it seems an odd fit that other scenes are so abstract. The poppies, for instance, are just dancers in red dresses and vests. And the talking trees are dancers in sexy, black dresses and tall (Lady Gaga-inspired?) hairdos.
A dance number that was cut from the film returns in this show: "the Jitterbug," wherein the Wicked Witch dispatches enchanted bugs to bite Dorothy and her friends, forcing them to dance until they drop. The costumes, choreography, lighting and energy in this scene should have been the standard for the rest of the show.
The acting and singing, though, is quite strong, especially Kate Bristol as Dorothy and Pat Sibley as the Wicked Witch of the West.
Bristol, who shows lots of wide-eyed wonder and never goes too far by trying to be Judy Garland, is charming. Her "Over the Rainbow" doesn't copy Garland's, and it's just beautiful.
Sibley embodies Margaret Hamilton's evil, cackling witch from the film, and it serves her well. (Her green makeup really ought to cover her visible neck, though.)
Other standouts include Jesse Coleman (Lion), Beau Hutchings (in a truly dreadful Tin Man costume), Andrew Haserlat (Scarecrow), Robert John Biedermann (the Wizard of Oz) and, of course, Dusty (Toto). Members of the Muny Kids play Munchkins and Winkies.
Children — this show's primary audience, clearly — will love "The Wizard of Oz." In the end, that's most important. But the adults who pay for the tickets deserve a little more polish.
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