SOUTHEND THEATRE SCENE
  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Main feature writer - Kim Tobin
  • COMING UP
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
    • David Streames Interview
    • Daniel O'Donnell
    • Matt Wycliffe Interview - Million Dollar Quartet
    • Ian Anderson - Jethro Tull
    • Tony Stockwell Interview
    • Priscilla Queen of the Desert Tour - Interview with Emma Crossley
    • Phil Walker - Guitar Heroes
    • Rock for Heroes Review
    • Once the Musical - We interview Daniel Healy & Emma Lucia as we are invited to watch the cast rehearse!
    • The Overtones 2019
    • Derren Brown - Showman
    • Stephen K Amos Interview
    • Geoff Norcott INTERVIEW
    • Diversity and Kev Orkian Interviews
    • Giles Cooper talks about Nigel Slater's TOAST
    • Kristian Lavercombe - Riff Raff - Rocky Horror Show
    • Dan Partridge & Martha Kirby talk Grease the Musical
    • Village Green Festival 2019
    • Lee Mead, David Streames & Richard Foster
    • Craig Revel Horwood
    • Jenny Gayner
    • Nigel Slater
    • Alex Bourne Interview - Annie Tour 2019
    • Beverley Craven Interview
    • Gary Barlow and Tim Firth Interview - Calendar Girls
    • Tom Stade 2019 Interview
    • Karen Gibson - The Kingdom Choir
    • AJ Pritchard
    • Jonathan Wrather - The Picture of Dorian Gray - Tilted Wig Productions
    • Kevin Clifton & Graziano Di Prima Interview - Burn the Floor
    • Elesha Paul Moses Interview - Tina Turner - What's Love Got To Do With It?
    • Juliet Mills & Maxwell Caulfield Interview
    • Juliet Mills Interview
    • Holly Liburd - The Bodyguard
    • Alexandra Burke - The Bodyguard
    • Janine Duvitski Interview
    • Matthew Kelly & David Yelland
    • Aled Jones Interview
    • Quadrophenia Live Interview with Doug Freeman
    • Diversity's Ashley Banjo, Jordan Banjo, Perri Kiely & Terry Smith
    • Ali James & James Cranfield
    • Ed Speleers, Mairi Barclay & Adam Lilley
    • Rachel Lumberg & Faye Christall Interview
    • Rain Main - Mathew Horne & Ed Speleers
    • Charles Sharman-Cox
    • Matt Terry & Antoine Murray-Straughan
    • Collabro Road to the Royal Albert Hall Interview
    • Steve Michaels - Elvis
    • Paul Young Interview
    • Joe Pasquale
    • Jersey Boys Interview
    • Colin Blunstone - The Zombies
    • Dave Kelly - The Blues Band
    • Clive John - Johnny Cash Roadshow
    • Paul Opacic & Richard Walsh
    • Vincent Simone & Flavia Cacace
    • Alexander O'Neal Interview
    • Kevin Whately - Our Finest Hour
    • Jenny Eclair - Grumpy Old Women Tour
    • Séan Aydon - Great Expectations
    • Joe McElderry Live in Concert
    • Nichola McAuliffe Interview
    • Natalie Anderson & Jonathan Halliwell
    • Geoff Norcott Interview
    • Mark Steel - Comedian Interview
    • Debra Stephenson & Alice Barlow
    • Dr Feelgood's Kevin Morris
    • Ali James Interview - Oh Yes It Is!
    • Tom Stade Interview
    • Sarah Earnshaw - Nativity the Musical
    • Karina Jones - Wait Until Dark
    • The Stylistics
    • Tom Chambers & Charlotte Wakefield
    • Jessie Wallace - Deathtrap
    • Paul Bradley - Deathtrap
    • George Kemp - The Wipers Times
    • Joe McElderry - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
    • Ian Hislop & Nick Newman - The Wipers Times
    • Chris Simmons, All or Nothing the Musical
    • Caroline Flack, Tom Chambers Interview
    • Ruth Madoc
    • Scott Reid - Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
    • Samuel Clemens, Director
    • Elizabeth Elvin
    • Ray Cooney - Out of Order
    • Susie Amy
    • Sue Holderness
    • Shaun Williamson
    • Carrie Hope Fletcher & Oliver Ormson
    • Geoff Norcott
    • Navi - King of Pop
    • Damian Williams Interview
    • Carrie Hope Fletcher Interview
    • Samantha Womack Interview
    • Les Dennis Interview
    • Clive Mantle - The Verdict
    • Stephen Bailey Interview
    • Steve Hackett Interview
    • Alastair Whatley - The Original Theatre Company
    • Paul Carrack Interview
    • Janine Johnson - Back to Bacharach Interview
    • Lewis Griffiths - Dirty Dancing
    • Ben Portsmouth Elvis Tribute
    • Paul Nicholls - Shawshank Redemption
    • Anne Odeke - Night Must Fall
    • Elaine Paige
    • Jimmy Osmond - Christmas Extravaganza
    • Brian Conley & Gok Wan
    • Jonathan Kiley - Qdos Pantomine Producer
    • Lee Mead - Some Enchanted Evening
    • Maximum Rhythm & Blues
    • Joe McElderry - Northern Light Tour
    • Carol Harrison - All or Nothing
    • Paul Cattermole - The Rocky Horror Show
    • Tommy Steele
    • Cheryl Baker - Formerly of Bucks Fizz
    • Gabrielle Cocca from Cats the Musical
    • PJ Proby Interview
    • Ashleigh & Pudsey - Mission ImPudseyble
    • I'm Cold - Alex Thorn
    • Mon Amie - supporting Jason Donovan
    • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
    • Richard Ede - The 39 Steps
    • Collabro
    • The Searchers
    • Fanny Galore
    • Paul Carrack
    • Rose Marie
    • Gary Wilmot, Noel Sullivan, Carley Stenson
    • Megan Terry
    • Sharon Rose - Little Eva in West End's Beautiful
    • Roy Chubby Brown - Britain's Rudest Comedian
    • Fascinating Aida's Dillie Keane
    • Ben Portsmouth - Elvis Tribute Artist
    • Ugly Sisters, Martin Ramsdin & David Robbins - Cinderella
    • Lauren Hall (Cinderella)
    • Michael Harrison, West End Producer
    • Brian Conley
    • Sharon Rose - X Factor
    • The Bodyguard - Zoe Birkett Interview
    • Alex Bourne (Daddy Warbucks)
    • Michael Corbidge Royal Shakespeare Company
    • Ashton Moore - Samson
    • Joe Pasquale
    • Phill Jupitus
    • Michael Sharp Playwright
    • Ray Cooney OBE
  • MUSIC
  • YOUTUBE
  • Features
    • Echoes From Essex
    • Immersive Actor Training
    • Afternoon Tea at the Cliffs Pavilion
    • N-Act Theatre Stage - Village Green
    • Chameleon Productions
    • Sheku Kanneh-Mason
    • Aladdin - Panto Cast Announcement
    • Sounds Familiar Music Quiz
    • N-Act Theatre in Schools
    • Ray Cooney comes to see Lindisfarne perform his play
    • Theatre Etiquette
    • Leigh Operatic & Dramatic Society's Backstage Crew
Picture
REVIEW
​The Wizard of Oz
Little Theatre Company
Palace Theatre, Westcliff on Sea
28th November to 1sst December 2019
One of the first visits I ever took to the theatre was with my parents to see The Wizard of Oz.  It was at the Thameside Theatre in Grays, I was around 8 years old and I can remember being oh so excited to see the characters and hear the songs from the iconic MGM film that I would sit and watch with my dad every Christmas.  Trouble was, Dorothy didn't look like Judy Garland, she had really short hair; and despite a valiant effort, none of the other characters looked remotely like they did in the film.  Huge disappointment all round.

Little Theatre Company's stage version of the film dubbed 'the  most magical adventure of them all, holds no such disappointments.  This stage version encapsulates pretty much every nuance of the film and its characters and contains all the much loved songs from the Oscar winning movie score plus, for good measure, an extra number that was cut from the film, Jitterbug.  

Dorothy Gale and her little dog, Toto, find themselves in Munchkinland in the Land of Oz after a tornado rips her house from Kansas and  lands slap bang on top of the Wicked Witch of the East.  Her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West shows up to claim the ruby slippers from her sister and swears revenge on Dorothy for her sister's death but Glinda the Good Witch transports the witch's ruby slippers on to Dorothy and sets her off on the Yellow Brick Road to find the Wizard of Oz in order that she can find a way to get back home.  Along the way she befriends a scarecrow, who needs a brain, a tin man who has no heart and a cowardly lion seeking some courage and so they all set off to seek the Wizard's help.
To say that Little Theatre Company's production of The Wizard of Oz is ambitious, is an understatement; Director, Tim Cater, has gone all out on every opportunity to make this show as true to the film as possible.  There is an effective use of projection to show backdrops such as the farm, the 'twister' tornado, Oz and the witches castle and just like the film, there's that magical transition from black and white (in actual fact, brown and white) to the world of colour when Dorothy lands in Oz.  I love that Dorothy's dress changes colour too.  There was an audible gasp from the audience on seeing the set transform into Oz after the tornado scene.

This show has been very well cast with Laura Harper playing Dorothy as true to Judy Garland as ever I've seen.  Somewhere Over the Rainbow​ is a tough song to start off on and can be overplayed, but Laura gives us a nicely sung gentler version.  Kilian McIntosh is a newcomer to LTC but with some impressive credentials on his bio.  He is perfect as the straw-filled Scarecrow, as too is Dave Gardner as the Tin Man.  Providing some true laugh out loud moments is Julian Cottee playing the Cowardly Lion, giving a lovely endearing performance.  The King of the Forest song is a tricky one, but Julian does a good job with it.
Picture
It's always going to be a big ask to cast enough munchkins for this show and here these are made up of children and the LTC ensemble who, no doubt, will probably have a few sore knees by the end of the run.  I loved the Lollypop Guild munchkins - very funny.

The Wicked Witch of the West gives Lianne Larthe the opportunity to go green and ham it up big time.  Kate Andrews as Glinda is every bit the essence of the good witch in a wonderful puffy pink dress.  Chris Higginson also gives a nicely convincing and comical performance in his role as the Emerald City Guard.

One of the highlights of the show is when we first meet the impressive 'Wizard'.  Without giving away any spoilers, this is one heck of a creation from Steve Park.  

The other 'little' star of the show of course is Eddie the very cute pooch playing Toto, Dorothy's pet dog.  Eddie is quite clearly a natural on stage, even though he did almost give Dorothy the slip at the end of the opening night! 

Song favourites such as Follow the Yellow Brick Road, We're Off to See the Wizard, If I Only Had a Brain/Heart/the Nerve and You're Out of the Woods are all in there, accompanied by the 10 piece orchestra, conducted by Paul Smith in his first time role as MD, also doing a fine job.  Emma Birch has contributed some simple but effective choreography throughout.


It's easy to pin point actors and certain stand out performances in shows but without the backstage and behind the scenes hard work that goes into these productions, the show wouldn't even go up every night.  There are a lot of tricky scene changes in this show and the backstage team certainly have to work hard. ​
With this production in particular, however, every person who has been involved with the making of the costumes is the stand out star and deserves a mention: Carla Cater, Joan Hubbard, Chantal Paul, Ann Cullender, Julie Robertson and Pat Wood have all contributed to make the most amazingly fabulous costumes which are almost as identical to the costumes in the film and along with Make-Up and Hair Co-ordinator, Jenny West, a super huge credit must go to these 'behind-the-scenes' talents.

If, like me, you are a big fan of the film and want to see it come alive on stage then you won't be disappointed with Little Theatre Company's production of The Wizard of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz plays until Saturday evening
Evenings £21, £20, £19
Matinees - £3.00 off
Group discounts available
www.southendtheatres.org.uk
Prices shown are inclusive of any applicable booking fees. Groups of 10+ please call 01702 351135 to buy fee-free.

Home

About

MUSIC

INTERVIEWS

FEATURES

Copyright © 2015