If at the end of a stage performance, you are not completely sure of who the real star of the night is, it may be because of the fact that they were many stellar performances or several mediocre ones. Such was the confusion at the Wizard of Oz, staged at the Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall, Chetpet. Directed by the Australian-Indian Brian Laul, with support from Y’s Men Club and Australia-India Council, one can safely say that the interactive musical was an Indian adaptation, with bright sequined green gagra cholis in the Emerald City, when Dorothy finally does manage to get there. The idea of using a visual presentation to go with the story line was convincingly effective, especially with the first scene of the tornado carrying off Dorothy’s house and crash-landing in at the land of Oz. The musical had adequate songs, with the characters breaking into one enthusiastically in every other scene. In the initial stages of the play, Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Lion received tepid response from the audience, but as the play went on, there was enthusiastic hand and hip shaking from them. When Dorothy reached Munchkinland, numerous tiny Munchkins (kids who were a part of the workshop conducted before the musical), dressed in bright outfits and holding colourful pompoms lit up the stage. Usually, when there are kids on stage, the smallest one will inevitably be out of synch, but to everyone’s surprise, the youngest one on this stage was in perfect synch with the rest of the troupe, with a serious look of concentration on his face. Brian Laul, as the Scarecrow, did a brilliant job, looking as stupid as he should look. Tin Man didn’t forget to look like one, ensuring to work his arms well throughout the play. The Lion, brilliantly cowardly, could have exposed a little bit of his face, like we are used to having seen in pictures of other musicals. But he did have a surprisingly strong singing voice. Dorothy’s silver shoes were amply shiny and her voice had all the whiny anguish and worry that a lost teenager would. Maybe she should have paid more attention to her pet dog Toto, (a scrappy-looking stuffed doll in a corner) which she abandoned at the beginning of the play. Strong points of the show are the amazing sets and costumes, high-energy dancing and singing and the well-planned lighting. There could have been a little more emphasis on the Yellow Brick Road. At the end of the almost-two hour show, one will definitely have difficulty in getting some of the catchy tunes out of their heads. [email protected]
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