Reviewed by Rebecca Wong
I grew up watching the Wizard of Oz, singing along to ‘follow the yellow brick road’ and pretending my toy dog was Toto, carrying him around in a basket. So I was very excited to visit St Helens Theatre Royal to watch The Wizard of Oz and even more excited to introduce my children, aged 5 and 3 to this timeless classic.
The theatre is always so welcoming and accommodating to families, we were sat in the circle and from there had an excellent view of the stage. The kids loved being so high up. It was my youngest daughters 1st real experience of the theatre and from the opening music she was absolutely fascinated.
The show was very funny, and the stage set was done brilliantly with the addition of some short film sequences and some great extra effects. The story worked brilliant for panto even with the adjustments that were to it for the stage. It followed Dorothy who dreamed of getting away with her dog Toto and then got caught up in a tornado that somehow relocated her house to the magical land of Oz. The landing of the house had squished a Wicked witch, freeing the very grateful munchkins from her terror. However, her sister, incidentally another wicked witch was not too happy to hear this news and even less happy that her sister’s magical ruby slippers had been given to Dorothy. Dorothy however, unaware of their power, was desperate to return home to Kansas and in her bid to seek out the magical Wizard of Oz for help whilst at the same time escaping the witches revenge she met a few friends along the road. Will Dorothy ever get home? Will the witch eventually catch up with her and can the Wizard actually help her??? The story will have you on the edge of your seat!
To my delight, not only were all the favourite classic songs featured but also some great modern hits that fit into the story surprisingly well and got the audience up and dancing on their feet. Also a song from The Wiz; the musical version of the film starring Dianna Ross and Michael Jackson from the 80’s.
The show featured David Heath from X-Factor as the scarecrow and Maddie Hope Coelho from BBC Pitch Battle as Dorothy. But the entire cast were just wonderful, funny and really authentic in their representation of the characters. My personal favourite was the Tin Man. Not only his energetic dance skills but his wonderful robotic voice did make me giggle. A mention also has to go out to Toto the REAL dog who must be the best-behaved dog ever, the kids thought he was brilliant.
Both me and the kids had a fab time and they are now really into the story which I’m please about. This show has something for children and adults alike and I highly recommend it as a great family treat this half-term. It’s a 5/5 from me!
Rating: 5/5
The Wizard of Oz is at the Theatre Royal in St Helens from 14-18 February 2018, for more information or to book tickets visit www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com or call the box office on 01744 756000.
St. Helens Theatre Royal, Corporation Street, St.Helens, Merseyside, WA10 1LQ
