The last time the Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of MGM’s iconic movie The Wizard of Oz (1939) blew into town was 15 years ago, presented by Broadway Across America and NETworks Presentations. At best it was overblown, overwritten, yet blessed by its use of most of the original screenplay by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf; all the songs by Harold Arlen and E. Y. (“Yip”) Harburg (even one dropped after the film’s preview, “The Jitterbug”); and a lot of juicy bits from Herbert Stothart’s Oscar-winning score. (Inconceivably, Stothart that year beat out Max Steiner’s magnificent opus Gone With the Wind for Best Musical Score.)
But something changed over the intervening years. When Queensbury Theatre got its hands on this RSC version, theater magic happened. It burst across the footlights.
Is the transformation due to the vision of director Kristina Sullivan – executive director of Queensbury Theatre and director of its prestigious Tribble School, as well as being a founding member of Music Box Theatre and former Masquerade Theatre principal? Perhaps, it’s her colleagues: concept designer Marco Camacho, choreographer Bethany White (who should receive a Tony Award for this work), costumers Leah Smith and Camacho, scenic designer Afsaneh Aayani, projection designer Ðạt Peter Tôn? Maybe it’s just a talented group of like-minded theater pros working together and doing their utmost. Sometimes it’s just that simple.
Whatever the reason and whoever is responsible, this Wizard of Oz is very good indeed, as close to a theater approximation of the movie as possible. Of course, that is ultimately an impossible task. One can not re-create such a transcendent film on stage without inevitable comparisons. No one can wipe away the impact of Garland, Bolger, Lahr, Morgan, Hamilton, even Hailey. You can not replicate the special effects wizardry of A. Arnold Gillespie’s twister, Adrian’s bizarre costumes, or Harold Rosson’s deep-dish Technicolor cinematography. If one’s not doomed from the start, you’re certainly at a disadvantage.
In RSC’s version, playwright Kane has unnecessarily padded the original screenplay. I don’t know why, for there’s no reason for deep subtext or psychological probing. To have Dorothy shout at her beloved farm workers, “I hate you all,” is not only gratuitous but way over the top. She’d never say that to them, no matter how distraught. And the scenes with Miss Gulch taking Toto are larded with extraneous exposition. Granted, it’s not many lines, but none of them are in the movie. Why add filler to a classic?
But Queensbury has surmounted – surpassed – such challenges by its imaginatively thought-out production. It’s not a slavish adherence to the movie (although that’s part of RSC’s adaptation). It’s an innocent, theater-centric approach to material we’ve known since childhood when the movie was first broadcast on TV in 1956. Oz is part of our youth, and I hope it will become part of everyone’s youth. Queensbury’s production should see to that.
Visual flair is foremost. The CGI projections are topnotch, although they often bleed onto the actors, which could easily be fixed by stronger lights on them. The storm sequence is masterful: Dorothy is buffeted by the tornado as she holds on to the screen door and is rotated around the stage like a Six Flags attraction. Much is made of the proscenium arch, where video projections of Glinda in her bubble clamber across, or the witch rides over, or Professor Marvel’s balloon is let loose. Before Act II, a neon green light lines the contours as the famous quartet enters Emerald City. This is really good stuff – evocative yet subtle, utterly theatrical. Great work.
But how to replicate that iconic cast? No one can replicate Garland’s tremulous innocence, or out-roar that vaudevillian Lahr, or dance with the nimbleness of Bolger, or humbug his way behind the curtain as did Morgan, or cackle like Hamilton. Queensbury succeeds – mostly.
Though she starts off a bit too strident, Sarah Sachi, as Dorothy, tones it down as her journey goes along. Her singing is husky, tinged with a pop star’s push, but “Over the Rainbow” is delicious under her interpretation. There is an ache and hope in her voice. I don’t think this Dorothy is anywhere near a teenager, but we’ll pretend.
Her companions along the road to Oz are amazingly gifted. Austin Colburn, as Scarecrow, is the most pliant dancer I’ve seen on stage. He takes pratfalls and tumbles like an Olympic gymnast and can do no wrong. Watch all the others, and your eyes instantly go to him while he dances and sings, sharp and defined. Kaleb Womack, as Tin Man, has hip hop vibes and a voice to match. Marco Camacho, in his acrylic faux chubby, stops the show with his prissy Cowardly Lion, channeling Lahr in the best way, but adding brilliant sly bits of Camacho to the mix.
Holland Vavra plays Glinda the Good Witch of the North as if she’s seen this all before. In her cotton candy wig, with video bubbles cascading around her, it’s a delightful take. She might have stepped straight out of a Wicked parody, but who would want her any other way? Curt Denham as Professor Marvel, influenced by Frank Morgan’s indelible characterization, plays this humbug absolutely right; while John Magalhaes shows off his showbiz chops as the Wizard’s Majordomo as he sings and struts to “The Merry Old Land of Oz.”
In the movie, Margaret Hamilton had 12 minutes of screen time as the Wicked Witch of the West, but her portrayal was so impressive that she forever etched that character into our consciousness. Tyler Ray Lewis has stage presence for days. Definitely larger than life, she takes the stage and commands. Unfortunately she’s been directed to shout all her lines. There’s no reason to scream, dear Witch. We know what you’re about. A little less melodrama would be nice.
The star of the show – other than director Sullivan – has to be choreographer Bethany White. Look what she does for the children playing Munchkins. She doesn’t spare them. The moves are swift and precise, not especially difficult but clever enough to impress. The kids are amazing, I must say; and I hate to single out any of them for fear of offending the other parents, but here goes. The leading inhabitants of Munchkinland are Beckett Scarborough as the Mayor (thoroughly convincing and a star in the making), Isabel Xia as the Fiddler and Barrister, and Hope Lebrun as the Coroner. Oh hell, here’s the rest of them: Amina Robinson, Caiden Keith, Caterina Do, Charlie Allen, Christopher Do, Elena Van Clief, Eliana Magalhaes, Frankie Carter, Hannah Wilk, Isaac Tinsley, Jacquelyn Rodriguez, Kate Shochat, Margan Goffney, Tanner Koenig. (Kids, you’re all winners and Broadway Babies in the making.)
But White’s stunning work applies to the adults, too. Perhaps her best sequence is the “Poppies,” where Dorothy and friends are stopped on their way to the Emerald City by the Wicked Witch’s sleep-inducing (hallucinogenic, perhaps?) potion. The Poppies emerge like Follies Bergère dancers in red bustiers to tempt them asleep. When Glinda rescues the quartet, she sends a blanket of snow (cocaine, perhaps, in some deconstructionist reading of Oz) to revive them. The Snow enters as men in white tuxes. The look is exquisite as all sing “You’re out of the woods, you’re out of the dark, you’re out of the night…” as the Poppies and Snow partner each other like a Balanchine ballet. It’s quite exceptional. The other great sequence is the “Jitterbug” number, cut after Oz’s first preview because the studio thought the dance’s specific style would date the film. Executed by this nimble cast, this most lively number staged by White doesn’t age at all.
I must also name the dance ensemble who did exceptional work: Adam Kral (doubling as a most persuasive flying monkey, Nikko), Santiago Pena, Ryan Valencia, Dirby Kingman, Christian Simon, Ella Davison, Myranda Sanchez, Hannah Otness, and Cameron Majewski.
And special thanks must go to little Jameel Robinson as the puppeteer for Toto. Onstage the entire evening, this 5th grade student at Barbara Bush Elementary is a trouper par excellence. His yaps and barks and dexterity with the muppet-like dog is something to behold. He was in the moment every moment. A big tip of the hat to him.
The RSC’s adaptation did give us the forgotten intros to Arlen and Harburg’s classic score. Have you ever heard the beginning to “Over the Rainbow,” or any of the starts to “If I Only Had A Brain…Heart…Nerve”? These additions are welcomed; the added dialogue is not. Under the direction of Stephen W. Jones on keyboard, the quintet of musicians almost sounded like the MGM Orchestra: Christian Harvey on bass, Travis Henthorn on drums, Zachery Montasser on violin, and Sarah Spencer on keyboard No. 2.
Queensbury has a winner. Clever and quite amazing in its staging, with dance numbers to rival any musical in town, and possessed of a genuine heart-felt message that lingers long after the show, The Wizard of Oz is sure-fire entertainment. The children in the audience were enrapt, as were the adults. Relive this classic live on stage. As you know, there’s no place like home.
The Wizard of Oz continues through July 28 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at Queensbury Theatre, 12777 Queensbury Lane. For more information, call 713-467-4497 or visit queensburytheatre.org. $30-$65.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
