Dorothy and friends have skipped their way into the Edinburgh Playhouse in this first UK tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s adaptation of the classic MGM musical The Wizard of OZ. The musical features the Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg songs from the 1939 film and includes new songs and lyrics by Webber and Tim Rice.
And it makes for a baffling trip over the rainbow.
It’s a twister!
The show opens in Kansas where we meet Dorothy and her family. The opening number, Nobody Understands Me , is a rather poor start to the production with a downbeat tone and bland instrumental. It surely reflects Dorothy’s mindset, but leaves the audience twiddling thumbs until we get to the titular land of OZ.
Over The Rainbow is delivered pleasingly by Aviva Tulley and is one of the only original songs that isn’t tampered with beyond repair.
When the tornado comes to whisk Dorothy off to OZ, what should be a spectacular, visual wonder is just Dorothy been spun around by two guys on a set-piece and horrible front-projections which see us leave space and time itself.
When she lands in OZ, Dorothy is greeted by the good-witch Glinda – who arrives on a motorbike, yet still makes continuous references to how she flies everywhere. Munchkin land is unrecognisable; a futuristic city with none of the colourful appeal of other OZ adaptations. A prime example of ‘don’t fix what doesn’t need fixed’.
Red Shoe’s Blues
The Vivienne plays The Wicked Witch of The West at the Playhouse. However, her performance felt over-acted and void of the creepy appeal that Margaret Hamilton has in the original film. Where she does shine though is with her vocals, delivering Red Shoe’s Blue’s as effectively as one can with such a number.
Because the additional Webber songs rarely complement the rest of the soundtrack and their existence merely seems to exist to bulk up the material. Nobody cares about Bring Me The Broomstick or Already Home. They want to hear Over The Rainbow, Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead and If I Only Had A Brain, which sadly are mostly all relics of their past selves.
The new instrumentation on these tracks is uninspired and hokey. Not to mention the addition of rap in If I Only Had A Heart is a baffling choice considering most of the other songs are from the 1930s.
A lack of wizardry
The set design is cheap and lacks spectacle, relying heavily on projections. The Wizard Head is laughable, especially in comparison to Wicked and the turning of the witch’s castle into Witch HQ. The Emerald City being full of commercialism adds to the embarrassing choices. The decision to replace the Wizard’s balloon with a spaceship elicited quite a few grumbles in the audience.
The show’s one saving grace are the charismatic performances from the cast. Standouts include Nic Greenshields who delivers a flamboyant performance as The Cowardly Lion, which feels like a homage to Bert Lahr. Marley Fenton is a fun Tin Man, despite his unfortunate material. But Aviva Tuley as Dorothy feels underutilized as a lead, even though she has a fantastic voice. Gary Wilmot is given nothing good to work with as The Wizard.
The Wizard of OZ is a horrible adaptation of the original musical. It’s full of ridiculous creative decisions and forgettable new songs, despite a committed and enjoyable cast.
Featured Image Credit: The Really Useful Group
He/Him
Arts Editor 24/25
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