Musical’s A Wonderful ‘Wizard Of Oz’

“Wizard of Oz” Friday night, Spokane Civic Theatre

There are two reasons why the Spokane Civic Theatre has a big hit on its hands with this fast-paced and spectacular version of “The Wizard of Oz”:

First, it stays faithful to the classic movie.

Second, it doesn’t ALWAYS stay faithful to the classic movie.

Some of the most delightful moments of this production are new moments. Some are scripted into this Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation, such as when the Wicked Witch of the West makes a positive ID of her sister’s legs underneath Dorothy’s house by saying that nobody else would match ruby slippers with those (ugh!) striped tights.

But plenty of wonderful new moments aren’t scripted at all, but created by director Kathie Doyle-Lipe and her cast and crew. One particularly inspired example comes when the Wicked Witch summons a flying monkey into her lair. The monkey proceeds to do an elaborate and hysterical pantomime showing that he is out of breath from having just flown in so fast. He gets laughs for 30 seconds without saying a word. This is testimony both to the talent of the actor (Ken McComb) and Doyle-Lipe, who has probably the best comic instincts of any director in Spokane.

But back to the main thesis: This production also does what those of us who grew up with the MGM movie want most of all. We want a faithful live rendition of the movie, complete with all of the moments, characters and songs we know and love. The clear goal of almost all of the actors is to recreate the voices, personalities and body language of the superlative MGM cast. With hardly an exception, they succeed.

As Dorothy, Juli Pritchard has all of they vulnerability and sincerity of Judy Garland, as well as the speaking voice (if not the singing voice). Her three companions Cameron Lewis as the Scarecrow, Kevin Partridge as the Tin Woodsman and Michael K. Hynes as the Cowardly Lion all remain comfortably faithful to the characters, and in all cases add their own nice shadings. I particularly loved Lewis’ dancing, Partridge’s singing voice, and Hynes’ wild sprint off the stage.

This entire huge cast, including a chorus and a large contingent of children (as Munchkins) deliver these well-loved scenes with confidence and craft. And, of course, Jeb, a cute little terrier, proved to be a real trouper as Toto. He was onstage practically the whole show, and he pulled aside the Wizard’s curtain right on cue.

Still, the real stars of this production are behind the scenes. This show has more special effects per minute than any local production I have ever seen. Let me just try to list a few of them:

A flying Glinda, who glides in periodically in a bubble.

A cyclone, created entirely of light, which blows across the stage.

An image of Aunt Em appearing in a crystal ball.

The disembodied face of Oz, flickering ominously overhead.

Billows of smoke and flashes of fire whenever the Wicked Witch appears.

It’s not easy to coordinate all of these effects, but the technical staff pulled most of them off perfectly.

The sets and lights, by Peter Hardie and Nik Adams, can be described only as a triumph. From the soft, water-color wash of Munchkin land, to the art-deco brilliance of Oz, to the forbidding, fire-spouting darkness of the Wizard’s chamber it just kept getting more impressive as the evening went along.

, DataTimes