The Wizard of Oz
Adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jeremy Sams
Directed by Jeremy Sams
Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph (map)
thru May 11 | tickets: $18-$105 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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Oz gains spectacle while losing heart, brain and courage
Broadway in Chicago presents
The Wizard of Oz
Review by Lawrence Bommer
The beloved MGM movie that we grew up with (but never out of) is now in real 3D at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. It’s a curious, nay spurious, case of trying to have your cake and eat it too. No question it’s got enough gorgeous scenery—and, even better, lavish IMAX video backdrops—to fully suggest Dorothy Gale’s Kansas homestead, Professor Marvel’s “Wonders of the World” wagon, the tornado, Munchkinland, the Yellow Brick Road, Haunted Forest, the upper turret of the Wicked Witch’s castle, Emerald City, the Wizard’s audience chamber and Dorothy’s bedroom. The coordinated costumes are faithful to their celluloid inspiration. The choreography, especially in Emerald City, is what did not kill vaudeville. Of course, the casting—a large Canadian union ensemble—could never equal the icons of the original but they don’t ruin too many memories (happily no small people as Munchkins). As Dorothy, Danielle Wade looks the part, though lacking any of Judy Garland’s vulnerability, and treating “Over the Rainbow” as a collection of notes. The others—well, they look the part too. If only looks were enough.
Then there’s the compulsively jokey script that manages to mock the show it’s supposed to enshrine. The pathetic efforts of this remake to be “tragically hip” rob it of any chance to reclaim the innocence of its source. Because he has no brain, the Scarecrow—ha! ha!—is always forgetting things as in his lines. The lion, whose self-characterization as a “Dandy Lion” makes the Tin Man react in homophobic fear, takes a “cat nap” in the poppy field because “The Lion sleeps tonight” and, seeing snow on him, declares “The Lion in winter.” He also announces to the Wizard that he is a “friend of Dorothy.” (Meanwhile, his great comic number, “If I Were King of the Forest”, has been cruelly cut.) The Scarecrow’s “Some people go both ways” is now a sexual double entendre; we’re also told that he “has a pole up his a—.”
You get the drift—anything for a laugh. “The Wiz” was more faithful to its origin than this sad remake. Far from cheap, these jokes and groaner puns take a toll as they rip us out of a beloved story. And what’s the paltry payoff? We get to feel trendy and superior to the suddenly 2D cartoons on stage. Not trusting the material, Webber and Rice have broken the broomstick. Just as with Dorothy’s companions, there’s no heart, brain or courage here. And talk about gilding the lily: Three times in the penultimate scene the Wizard pompously intones that wishing for a brain (heart, etc.) means you already have it. Yes, and that’s why I’ll qualify for the Olympic Games.
For anyone who wanted to sass or cuss the 1939 masterpiece, this is your chance to get over that rainbow. But you can’t have it both ways–both honor and spoof the same source. It’s rude to punish an audience for still believing as this family-friendly spectacle certainly does. But, yes, Toto is adorable.
Rating: ★★
The Wizard of Oz continues through May 11th at Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph (map). Tickets are $18-$105, and are available by phone (800-775-2000) or online through Ticketmaster.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at WizardOfOzTheMusical.com. (Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes, includes intermission)
Photos by Cylla von Tiedemann
artists
cast
Danielle Wade (Dorothy), Jay Brazeau (Professor Marvel, Wizard), Jacquelyn Piro Donovan (Miss Gulch, Wicked With of the West), Mike Jackson (Hickory, Tin Man), Lee MacDouglall (Zeke, Lion), Jamie McKnight (Hunk, Scarecrow), Robin Evan Willis (Glinda), Larry Huerbert (Uncle Henry), Chelsey Duplak (Auntie Em), Nigel (Toto), Loki (Toto understudy), Jordan Bell, John Edwards, Jason Huska, Julia Juhas, Zak Kearns, Anthony McPherson, Stewart Adam McKensy, Julia McLellan, Brian Palmer, Alana Randall, Adam Sergison, Amanda Stuthmann, Devon Tullcok, Alyson Workman (ensemble), Kelly Grainger, Lauren Sprague, Andrew Taylor, Ryan Wilson (swings)
behind the scenes
Jeremy Sams (director, adaptor), Harold Arlen (music), E.Y. Harburg (lyrics), Andrew Lloyd Webber (producer, additional music), Tim Rice (additional lyrics), Hugh Vanstone (lighting design), Irene Bohan (costume supervisor), Mick Potter (sound designer), Arlene Philips (choreographer), Cylla von Tiedemann, Tom Donoghue (photos), Robert Jones (production designer), Jon Driscoll (video, projection design), Ryan Wilson (dance captain), Kelly Grainger (fight captain, asst. dance captain),
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