Hull New Theatre – until 27th January 2023
Reviewed By Dawn Bennett
5*****
Michael Harrison, Gavin Kalin Productions, David Mirvish, Crossroads Live, Nick Thomas, Rupert Gavin & Mallory Factor, Jake Hine, Playing Field by arrangement with The Really Useful Group Limited Present The Curve Production of The Wizard of Oz.
There is really only one word to describe this show and that is WOW!! From the minute it started our senses were overloaded from the music, singing, dancing, set, costumes and acting. It was just brilliant.
From the book by L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz tells the story of Dorothy (Aviva Tulley) and her dog Toto (Tyler Ephraim) who live in Kansas with her Aunty Em (Emily Bull) and Uncle Henry (David Burrows). When a tornado hits, Dorothy finds herself blown away and landing in the wonderful land of Oz. She is shocked to see that her home from Kansas has landed on the Wicked Witch of the East and squashed her dead. Her sister, The Wicked Witch of the West (The Vivienne) is not pleased to say the least and plots to stop her getting to Oz, meeting The Wizard of Oz (Alex Bourne) and getting back home to her family. Along the yellow brick road Dorothy meets The Scarecrow (Benjamin Yates) who wants a brain, The Tin Man (Marley Fenton) who wants a heart and The Cowardly Lion (Nic Greenshields) who wants to have courage. The Wicked Witch of the West tries her hardest to stop the group of friends but, with the help of Glinda the Good Witch (Emily Bull), they manage to get to see The Wizard of Oz. But do their wishes come true?
The Orchestra (led by Musical Director Iestyn Griffiths) played magnificently, and there was a lot of tunes from the original film including Off to see The Wizard, Over the Rainbow, Ding Dong The Witch is Dead and many others.
The costumes (Dada Neidhardt – Head of Wardrobe) and wigs (Marianne Chiu – Head of Wigs) really have to be seen to believed, from the grey scale at the beginning of the show to the riot of colours in the rest.…just fabulous.
There were some outstanding performances in this production Aviva Tulley (Dorothy) played the part beautifully, she’s very talented and definitely one to watch. Tyler Ephraim (Toto) was just brilliant. Toto, the dog, was a puppet and puppeteer Tyler made you really believe the dog was real. The Vivienne (The Wicked Witch of the West) was so good, their acting and singing was amazing as was their stage presence.
All the cast and crew in this show very much deserved the standing ovation that they got last night. If you get a chance to see this production, just go…it was stunning!