Musical Theatre West serves up over two-and-a-half hours of nostalgic G-rated family entertainment with The Wizard Of Oz, a summer musical best enjoyed by children twelve and under and parents who don’t mind tagging along.

 A faithful scene-by-scene recreation of the 1939 MGM movie classic, the 1987 stage adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s classic introduces us to Dorothy (Leianna Weaver) on the Kansas farm where she lives with her Aunt Em (Sarah Uriarte Berry) and Uncle Henry (Dennis Holland) and handymen Hunk, Hickory, and Zeke (Erik Scott Romney, Michael James, and William Hartery) in sepia-toned black-and-white.

Indeed, things would be darn near perfect (if a bit on the dull side) were it not for the teenager’s nasty old nemesis Miss Gulch (Erica Hanrahan), whose threat to have Dorothy’s mischievous canine pal Toto (Han) put down prompts Dorothy to flee, mutt in tow, until traveling magician Professor Marvel’s (Jason Graae) “vision” of a weeping Auntie Em sends Dorothy heading back home just as a cyclone draws near.

 A video storm sequence later, Dorothy finds herself in the Technicolor Land of Oz.

Welcomed by glamorous Good Witch Glinda (Berry) and some adorable, adoring Munchkins, Dorothy soon makes the acquaintance of three incomplete souls (a Scarecrow without a brain, a Tin Man without a heart, and a Lion without courage) who happen to look just like Hunk, Hickory, and Zeke.

Later, when Dorothy makes the unfortunate acquaintance of the Wicked Witch of The West, she turns out to be the spitting image of Miss Gulch, albeit in shades of green.

Along the yellow brick road to Oz, audiences are re-introduced to such Harold Arlen/E.Y. Harburg gems as “If I Only Had A Brain,” “If I Only Had a Heart,” “If I Only Had The Nerve,” “We’re Off To See The Wizard,” “Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead,” and a song that nearly ended up on the MGM cutting room floor, a little ditty known as “Over The Rainbow.”

Unlike the movie original which ran a tight 101 minutes, its stage version (adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company back in 1987) tacks on an additional half hour of book and reprises, an instance where less padding would add up to more in the long run.

Not only that, but with Wicked now entering its third decade of thrilling audiences with its more sophisticated take on Oz (and Stephen Schwartz’s glorious score), I can’t help comparing the two shows, The Wizard now coming in a distant second in my book.

That’s not to say that its return to Musical Theatre West fifteen years after its last appearance on the Carpenter Center stage doesn’t feature topnotch performances under Paige Price’s able direction.

Indeed, Dorothys don’t get any spunkier or more charming than big-voiced recent Cal State Fullerton grad Weaver, and she is matched every step of the way down the yellow brick road by fellow travelers Romney (a delightfully goofy Scarecrow), James (pretty darned warm and wonderful for a character supposedly lacking a heart), and Hartery (stealing every scene he’s in as a lion more full of himself than he is of courage).

You won’t find a Glinda more glorious than Berry’s, or Wicked Witches dastardlier than Hanrahan’s, and whoever decided to cast the inimitable Graae as both the Wizard and the doorkeeper to Oz knew that a double serving would add up to double the laughs, both scripted and unscripted.

Holland, David Kirk Grant (Winkie General), and a deliciously quirky Allen Lucky Weaver (Nikko, the Flying Monkey) excel in smaller roles.

Choreographer Jimmy Locust gives talented if incognito song-and-dance ensemble members Quintan Craig, Julia Doty, Erin Dubreuil, DarRand Hall, Brianna Liddi, Jacob Matthews, TJ Punchard, Taleen Shrikian, Dekontee Tucrkile plenty of fancy footwork to execute (as crows, apple trees, poppies, Winkies, jitterbugs, and monkeys) while vocalizing to perfections under Ryan O’Connell’s expert musical direction.

Youth ensemble members Rachel Beard, James dela Cruz, Amelia Fischer, Savannah Fischer, Faith Graham, Chloe Alyssa Hanser, Becca Last, Catherine Last, Elizabeth Last, and Maisie Oliveros, and Daniela Somers are pintsized charmers each and every one, though including grown-up-sized Munchkins among them proves jarring.

David Arsenault’s scenic design and Bradley Allen Lock’s costumes (sets and costumes provided by The Music & Theatre Company) have an appropriately drab look for scenes set in Kansas (though Professor Marvel’s wagon’s red curtain needs rethinking) and a colorful storybook look once Dorothy has arrived in Oz, with Therese Leavsseur’s wigs and Jeanette Kakuska’s makeup completing the production’s reality-meets-fantasy look, and Paul Black’s lighting enhancing all of the above

Julie Ferrin guarantees a crystal-clear sound design mix of amped voices and the production’s Broadway-caliber orchestra under O’Connell’s baton.

Last but not least, there are plenty of gravity-defying flying effects to inspire audience oohs and aahs.

Steve Calzaretta is production manager. Brigham Johnson is stage manager and Shay Garber is assistant stage manager. Cheryl Gaul is associate music director and Bren Thor is associate producer.

Maybe I’ve seen too many live productions of The Wizard Of Oz, or maybe I just can’t stop comparing it to the more grown-up appeal of Wicked. In any case, despite all-around stellar performances, this time round the original Wizard didn’t quite do it for me.

Musical Theatre West, Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach.
www.musical.org

–Steven Stanley
July 8, 2023
Photo: Photo: Caught In The Moment Photography

Tags: E.Y. Harburg, Harold Arlen, L. Frank Baum, Los Angeles Theater Review, Musical Theatre West