West End Theatre: Wizard of Oz

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The Review - THEATRE by RICHARD OSLEY
Published: 22 August 2008

Magical tale without wizardry

REVIEW: WIZARD OF OZ
Southbank Centre

TOTO steals the show. By the time Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion reach the Emerald City, Bobby the Terrier has earned his weight in Pedigree Chum.
Or make that dog biscuits: he seemed to find enough of them as he sniffed his way along the South Bank’s Yellow Brick Road, melting the front rows with an occasional begging paw.
Gary Wilmot – you don’t see enough of him on TV these days, do you? – did his best in the lion suit to draw the attention away from the dog, hamming it up for all it’s worth and flashing a winning smile not properly seen since he presented the kids quiz So You Want To Be Top? in the 1980s.
But even this cuddly old stalwart couldn’t steal the show from little Toto. Nor could Roy Hudd, whose role as the Emerald City’s head honcho was wonderful as billed but all too brief.
Don’t worry – this is a fine attempt to stage panto four months early. A traditional telling of The Wizard of Oz, it revels in the simplicity of the tale and a splash of green face-paint. The sets are economical. The Munchkins are just kids in different coloured Converse boots.
And the whole thing has lost points in other quarters for not being as lavish as Wicked, that other Oz musical currently doing the rounds. But it’s not meant to be lavish.
The short cuts are deliberate and rather than try to blow us away with an impossible hurricane, Jude Kelly’s production relies on the magic of Frank Baum’s story to do the hard work, drumming up enough Aesopish philosophy to convince all of us we might have beaten Usain Bolt in the 100 metres dash, if only we just believed in ourselves a little more. The story is yet to grow old. As are the kids of all ages looking on who aaahhed every time Toto waggled his tail.
Until August 31
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