In Which We Watch the Wizard of Oz
Dec. 23rd, 2018 11:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aThe first musical I can vaguely recall seeing is The Wizard of Oz. No, not the movie (though I of course saw that too, many times, as it was one of those movies that used to be an annual special, back when there were such things). But, The Wiz, I think, when it showed at the magnificent outdoor Muny in St. Louis in 1982.
So it was delightful to see The Wizard of Oz proper at the Berkeley Playhouse today, as we count down our musicals here in the Bay Area. It was in general a charming production, based on the 1987 RSC production.
It was a very close adaptation of the movie, with all of the notable songs, even The Jitterbug (originally in the movie, but cut, and its footage lost). There was some great dancing, including the aforementioned Jitterbug and the introduction of the munchkins. (What does it say that out of the almost dozen or so munchkins, only two of them were boys, and one of those two, who seemed a bit nervous to be on stage, was the mayor?) Dorothy was great and so was Marvel/Oz (who was a woman, which is the gender-color-blind casting that's much more common for the Playhouse).
The staging was also great. I loved the neutral colors in Kansas immediately transferring to a vivid color scheme when we hit Oz. (Though the munchkins actually had too many colors: it was noted their color was blue, but then they wore the whole rainbow; while for some reason the Winkies always had purple in the background, when that's of course the color of the Gillikins, duh.) We had a rainbow lit across plinths for most of the play, then they became emerald plinths when the cast got to the Emerald City. (Is the rainbow LGBT flag derived from Oz? Apparently not, despite the multiple connections to Judy Garland, though the six colors of the rainbow lit across the plinths mirrored the modern LGBT flag.)
Something that I don't remember in other version of the Wizard of Oz was an extended scene set in Kansas where we met not just Gulch/The Wicked Witch, but also the three farmhands who are the twins of the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion.
Overall, a lot of fun. Not deep, as it was definitely one of the Playhouse's kids' offerings, but better than the modern-day Disney tripe they've done for kids in recent seasons.
Kimberly and I were also very amused by how much fun someone had with the music running in the theater before the play and during the intermission. The first amusing song we noted was "Ease on Down the Road" (which is from the Wiz). Later we heard, Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (albeit, without the "What a Wonderful World" mash-up, which is a bit of a waste), "The Wizard and I" (from Wicked), and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (from Elton John). There were a few others we couldn't positively identify, but I'd like to see that whole playlist.
Anyway, that was the end of the year at the Berkeley Playhouse, though we have another play next Sunday at Shotgun.
So it was delightful to see The Wizard of Oz proper at the Berkeley Playhouse today, as we count down our musicals here in the Bay Area. It was in general a charming production, based on the 1987 RSC production.
It was a very close adaptation of the movie, with all of the notable songs, even The Jitterbug (originally in the movie, but cut, and its footage lost). There was some great dancing, including the aforementioned Jitterbug and the introduction of the munchkins. (What does it say that out of the almost dozen or so munchkins, only two of them were boys, and one of those two, who seemed a bit nervous to be on stage, was the mayor?) Dorothy was great and so was Marvel/Oz (who was a woman, which is the gender-color-blind casting that's much more common for the Playhouse).
The staging was also great. I loved the neutral colors in Kansas immediately transferring to a vivid color scheme when we hit Oz. (Though the munchkins actually had too many colors: it was noted their color was blue, but then they wore the whole rainbow; while for some reason the Winkies always had purple in the background, when that's of course the color of the Gillikins, duh.) We had a rainbow lit across plinths for most of the play, then they became emerald plinths when the cast got to the Emerald City. (Is the rainbow LGBT flag derived from Oz? Apparently not, despite the multiple connections to Judy Garland, though the six colors of the rainbow lit across the plinths mirrored the modern LGBT flag.)
Something that I don't remember in other version of the Wizard of Oz was an extended scene set in Kansas where we met not just Gulch/The Wicked Witch, but also the three farmhands who are the twins of the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion.
Overall, a lot of fun. Not deep, as it was definitely one of the Playhouse's kids' offerings, but better than the modern-day Disney tripe they've done for kids in recent seasons.
Kimberly and I were also very amused by how much fun someone had with the music running in the theater before the play and during the intermission. The first amusing song we noted was "Ease on Down the Road" (which is from the Wiz). Later we heard, Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (albeit, without the "What a Wonderful World" mash-up, which is a bit of a waste), "The Wizard and I" (from Wicked), and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (from Elton John). There were a few others we couldn't positively identify, but I'd like to see that whole playlist.
Anyway, that was the end of the year at the Berkeley Playhouse, though we have another play next Sunday at Shotgun.