Review: The Wizard of Oz

Musical: The Wizard of Oz
Venue: The London Palladium, London, UK
Date: Wednesday 22nd June 2011 at 14:30
Cast: Danielle Hope (Dorothy), Michael Crawford (The Wizard/Professor Marvel/Doorman/Tour Guide), Emily Tierney (Glinda), Marianne Benedict (The Wicked Witch of the West/Miss Gulch u/s), Paul Keating (Scarecrow/Hunk), Edward Baker-Duly (Tinman/Hickory), David Ganly (Cowardly Lion/Zeke), Stephen Scott (Uncle Henry) and Helen Walsh (Auntie Em)
Rating: **1/2


Review:
I was in London this week for a little business at the Royal Thai Embassy and I had the afternoon to spare so I was looking for a matinee show to see as usual. One show that caught my attention was the new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Wizard of Oz. Since the show wasn't on sale at TKTS yet, I decided to drop by the London Palladium to see how the seats were. I was preparing to spend 50+ pounds on the show when I arrived at the theatre to find that they have an offer for 25 pounds for front row seats with restricted view. But guess how lucky I was, the box office guy told me that since I was on my own, he could move me to a 55 pound seat for 25 pound!!! What a bargain! :)

The front of the London Palladium on Argyll Street

The back of the theatre from Carnaby Street side

Since it was a Wednesday afternoon, there was a lot of schoolchildren at the show. The London Palladium was a big and beautiful theatre both inside the theatre and in the foyer. I was glad that I got to see a show at this theatre since it has housed many of the West End's legendary shows such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Jason Donovan, Oliver! starring Jonathan Pryce, The King and I both original version with Yul Brynner and revival version starring Elaine Paige as well as The Sound of Music and Sister Act starring Connie Fisher and Patina Miller respectively. And last boxing day, the theatre had just celebrated its 100th year so it was great for me to have a chance to be inside this legendary theatre.

Schoolchildren lined up in front of the theatre ready to get in

Little girl in a Dorothy costume

The stage

However, the show wasn't all that magical for me. It was actually pretty boring and I was glad that I didn't spend a whole lot of money on it. Let's talk about the good part first. Danielle Hope was our Dorothy and I think that she was a very good Dorothy. Her voice has definitely improved and developed since her reality show days and I really like how she sang the role in a softer way rather than belting them out like I've heard before. "Over the Rainbow" was absolutely beautiful. However, there are times when I found her acting a bit unnatural.

Danielle Hope as Dorothy and Toto
on the Yellow Brick Road to see the Wizard

I was a bit sad to find that Hannah Waddingham wouldn't be the Wicked Witch of the West at the performance I attended. But her understudy, Marianne Benedict, did a really good job with the role both in acting and singing that I was totally satisfied with her. And despite their minimal stage time, the rest of the ensemble cast (including Glinda, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em) performed their role well, though it's really nothing outstanding.

Hannah Waddingham as the Wicked Witch of the West
as she interrupted the arrival of Dorothy in Munchkinland

A great solo number for Elphaba, I mean the Wicked Witch
"Red Blue Shoes" a decent song had it not repeated too much

Emily Tierney as Glinda the Good Witch of the North

But the real scene-stealer here is Dorothy's dog, Toto. From his (her?) first stage moment in the opening of act one up until the very last scene in the show and the curtain call, Toto was a true star of the show. He (assuming it was a he) was cute and so loveable and did all the acting exactly on cue (unlike the chihuahua I've seen at Legally Blonde). He barked, ran, jumped, growled and did everything that he was supposed to and you just couldn't take your eyes off him at all. However, the problem here was that since Toto was so cute, I felt that the audience was actually focusing on what Toto was doing rather than what the human characters were talking. Personally, I enjoyed watching Toto's tail wagging in the opening scene that I had absolutely no idea what Dorothy and Uncle Henry were talking about. I guess there's a reason why they leave the dog offstage during "Over the Rainbow" number. I was also glad to have caught 2 of the Totos at stage door.

The four alternate Totos

These were the two I've seen. I got their pictures at stagedoor!

What I also liked about the show was its stage effects. The projection used in the twister scene (though very similar to the one used in Love Never Dies) was very effective and the moving house looked believeable. Even though some projections were a bit cheesy. The production made good use of the turntable and I appreciate the things that the turntable could do. The sceneries were mostly beautiful and I liked how they played with the color from a sepia Kansas to a colorful Oz. I also loved how the witches flew!

Inside the Wizard of Oz's chamber

Then, we came to the bad part. I think the main problem of the show lies in its thin script. It's the Wizard of Oz and everybody knows about it and probably has seen it before. But that's no excuse to just throw whatever's in the movie onto the stage. The story works well in its 1939 movie form but I think when it's a 2011 stage musical, it needs quite a lot of adjusting to suit today's audience. I feel that the story was very thin and predictable. I know everyone knows what's gonna happen to all the characters but couldn't they just add a little excitement into the story? Everything was solved so very easily that it became boring to sit through from the poppy fields to what happens to the Wicked Witch of the West and from how the Wizard granted his wish to how Dorothy gets home. There were so many moments that could blow the audience away but they chose to just leave it bland... Shame on you!


I also looked forward to the music a lot since it was a recollaboration between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice but again, it's a disappointment. The new songs that were added were not even serviceable to me. The opening song was bad. The Professor Marvel song was boring. The broomstick song was weird. The Wicked Witch song started off promisingly but then it became too repetitive that it became boring. Glinda song towards the end of the show ("Already Home") was a really beautiful song and it was performed well by the company but it didn't fit with the story at all. It was like, "OK, Glinda needed a song so we're gonna let her sing this one". Then, once the song was over, they were like "so where were we...". At least they could have had the song led to how Dorothy could get home but they chose not to. To me, I felt that Lloyd Webber had lost his magic, as can be seen from his last few shows, i.e. The Woman in White, Love Never Dies and now this!


On top of the new songs, the classic (old) songs by Arlen and Harburg could have been rearranged and updated to suit today's audience but I found myself yawning through the endless reprises of "We're off to see the wizard"... Yeah, I know, off you go then!


Then we had the legendary Michael Crawford. His acting wasn't that bad but it was just disappointing for a guy of his calibre to be doing something like this. While most actors played a dual role of a character in Kansas and a character in Oz, Crawford was doing 4 roles, as Professor Marvel in Kansas and as Doorman/Tour Guide/The Wizard in Oz. I know that the wizard was a very cameo role but to have him played all those unneccessary roles didn't work for me and Crawford couldn't differentiate himself among the 4 roles. What I saw was Crawford in 4 different costumes. He looked the same, he sounded the same and it might be better just to have a member of an ensemble covers those roles. His singing was also not up to his standard plus the bad songs didn't really help either. "Bring Me the Broomstick" was pretty much his best number but it was sung by a projection of him as the Wizard so I doubt that the performance was pre-recorded. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Michael Crawford as The Wizard of Oz

Michael Crawford as Professor Marvel
seen here with Doroty (Danielle Hope) and Toto
during "Wonders of the World" number

Towards the end of the show

The trio of Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion were also a let-down. I think they performed the part well but the script was just poor. The jokes weren't funny at all and the actors couldn't seem to make the role any funnier. And the Lion costume was horrible. I felt really bad for the actor to have to wear that every night.

Paul Keating as the Scarecrow

Edward Baker-Duly as the Tin Man

David Ganly as the Cowardly Lion and oh! how I hate that costume!

I'm gonna stop my rant there. My overall suggestion is go see it if you're a hardcore fan of Lloyd Webber. It may also be a good show to bring kids to because there are so many things to catch their attention though I doubt that they will enjoy it throughout especially in a more (not-really-)dramatic moment of the show. I would also recommend you to see other shows first and if you really wanna see this one, wait for it to go on sale at TKTS because it's not really worth the full ticket price.


Endnote: Even though I'm not a big fan of Wicked, I'm gonna still recommend everyone to stick to Wicked if you want to see a show related to the land of Oz with a stronger book and better music. If only Elphaba could fly using a broomstick!


Seat Recommendation: If after all this and you still decide to go see it, I heard a lot of complaints about front row seats not being able to see Toto and the ruby slippers and some of the scenes in the back. I can't confirm that for you but since Toto is the main star, I'd say you wouldn't want to miss him. I was seated in O37 in the left stall and from where I was, the seat was perfectly fine, nothing on stage was obscured, though *SPOILER STARTS* there will be something flying offstage that I couldn't see the whole thing (but still able to see most of it)  *SPOILER ENDS* However, if you had sit 4-5 rows back, you might miss that whole bit which was not THAT important anyway.


"Over the Rainbow" by Danielle Hope as Dorothy

"Wonders of the World" performed by Michael Crawford as Professor Marvel

"We're off the See the Wizard" performed by Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion

Montage from the Show ("Merry Old Land of Oz")

MUSICAL NUMBERS
ACT ONE
Overture... Orchestra
Nobody Understands Me*... Dorothy and Ensemble
Over the Rainbow... Dorothy
Wonders of the World*... Professor Marvel
The Twister*... Orchestra
Arrival in Munchkinland... Glinda, Dorothy and Munchkins
Munchkinland... Glinda, Dorothy and Munchkins
Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead... Glinda, Dorothy and Munchkins
Follow the Yellow Brick Road... Dorothy and Munchkins
If I Only Had a Brain... Scarecrow
We're off to See the Wizard... Dorothy and Scarecrow
If I Only Had a Heart... Tin Man
We're off to See the Wizard... Dorothy, Scarecrow and Tin Man
If I Only Had the Nerve... Lion
We're off to See the Wizard... Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion
We're Out of the Woods... Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and Ensemble
The Merry Old Land of Oz... Company
Bring Me the Broomstick*... The Wizard


ACT TWO
Entr'Acte... Orchestra
We Went to See the Wizard... Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion
March of the Winkies... Winkies
Red Shoes Blues*... The Wicked Witch of the West and Winkies
Over the Rainbow (Reprise)... Dorothy
If We Only Had a Plan... Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion
The Rescue*... Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and Ensemble
Hail-Hail! The Witch Is Dead... Ensemble
You Went to See the Wizard... The Wizard
Farewell to Oz*... The Wizard
Already Home*... Glinda, Dorothy and Ensemble
Over the Rainbow (Reprise)... Dorothy
Finale... Company


*additional songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice

All other original songs by Harold Arlen and EY Harburg