‘The Wizard of Oz’ comes to the Edinburgh Playhouse to blow our slippers off and toss us over the rainbow into the merry old land of Oz. This fantastic revival hits the Edinburgh stage, giving us all a fresh take on L. Frank Baum’s original tale. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams’s new adaption is in the capital as part of the show’s UK tour, in which features celebrity performances by RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’s first winner; The Vivienne, with West-End legend and household name; Gary Wilmot.
This adaption of the all-time classic brings some freshness to the original production with additional music and lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Conceptually this new take, paints a cold-war in technicolour picture through all elements of its design, with a 1940/50s style present in the set pieces and costume, as if shaking the darkness of the previous decade. This choice was visually stunning and provided an amazingly familiar otherworldly feel, reminiscent of the game Fallout or episodes of the Twilight Zone. The costumes were wonderful and everyone fit in the world that was created on stage. On the other hand, a complaint I did have was the decision to not put The Tinman or The Scarecrow in a single ounce of makeup. I found the choice odd as it took me out of the performance a little bit. Especially when The Cowardly Lion was in full makeup, I understand that sometimes technicality can play into things, however, I have seen a multitude of amateur performances pull it off, so why can a large UK touring production not? If it is a style choice I also believe this was flawed as double cast characters with similar costumes and mannerisms i.e The Scarecrow cannot have a low-key costume without the makeup to match. In the scene where the main three dress up as The Wicked Witch’s guards, you couldn’t decifer who was The Scarecrow, as he could have passed for one of the ensemble, without his costume visible, he had no other defining features. I loved the style of this show’s design but no makeup on these characters could have had further thought or criticism on the creative team’s part.
When it comes to the performance from the actors themselves, they were fantastic. The Ensemble was one of the most polished I have seen in a while, every step, every note was on point and their expressions were scene stealing. The physicality of all of the performers was absolutely phenomenal, a special mention has to be said for Marley Fenton’s portrayal of The Tinman, his animatronic movements were just *chef’s kiss*! Benjamin Yates’s The Scarecrow was incredibly high energy and reminiscent of the original portrayal in the MGM film. Nic Greensheilds was stellar as the lovable Cowardly Lion, in my opinion an audience favourite, he was absolutely hilarious and his voice was spot on. Aviva Tulley was beautiful as Dorothy, such a powerful, light and airy voice that captured the essence of Dorothy precisely. ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ almost brought me to tears. The Viviene was gorgeous as The Wicked Witch, and had the audience wishing for the role to be played by a Drag Queen all the time! A very powerful voice that brought a tremendous amount of drama and extravagance to each scene she was in. My one note for this performance would be for The Viviene to maybe soften her voice when delivering lines at points, if a character’s voice lacks variation, it can make important dialogue slightly less impactful. Even the villain can have softer moments in dialogue, sometimes a calmness in dire situations can come across even more sinister.
All in all, this is a wonderful adaption, which I highly recommend. This production has all the magic of the MGM film with a much needed fresh take from director Nikolai Foster, to keep it alive decades after its creation. There is a reason why The Wizard of Oz has been immortalised in history, it is a magical story about friendship, adventure and valuing what we have in life. This is a great re-telling of that story. I am and hope to always be a friend of Dorothy.
Get your tickets now until Saturday 17th February, here
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-wizard-of-oz/edinburgh-playhouse/
Theatre Scotland 
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