Wizard of Oz!

Wizard of Oz – St Helens Theatre Royal - Darren Partington

I booked again to see this show after last year’s success.  My initial thoughts were ‘This will probably be the same show as last year’.  I thought about churning out the same old review as last year and just changing the date but I’m glad I didn’t.

Everything I like about a theatre is in this wonderful venue.  It’s an old theatre with a modern twist.  They have a new box office, which gives the theatre a great new look.  Inside the theatre, you feel it is big enough to create an atmosphere yet small enough to be intimate.  When I go to the theatre I like to see the actor’s faces on the stage as you get to see all the little side looks and silly looks when something goes a stray.  This performance certainly has all that and more.

The story itself never really changes with the same characters doing the same things along the famous yellow brick road.  What I like about this story is the added twists along the way.   From the very beginning we had a lovely rendition of ‘Pure Imagination’ – great song choice as children of all ages (Yes including me) instantly new they were being taken somewhere special!

The cast, with some new additions, gave the audience exactly what they wanted to have – Fun!  Yes this sounds simple but I’ve seen many ‘Pantomimes’ that forget to have that one ingredient.  There is warmth on stage and a sense of togetherness as the cast make their way through the story.  The best bits for me are when the cast members get a line wrong or fall over when they are not expected.  It is always good to see the reaction of their ‘friends’ as they continue to try and set each other up over a slight mistake and then of course cue Claire Simmo to start the laughing! 

Charlotte Gallagher is a wonderful Dorothy who has it all: Stunning, can dance and can certainly belt out a tune, especially singing the main song ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’.  Her voice carries across the theatre with ease and I would like to see her in more challenging roles in other musicals, as I think she has the talent. 

Now I’m not a huge Eastenders fan since Angie Watts left the square back in the late 80’s so I didn’t know what to expect from Cheryl Fergison.  What I got was a fantastic performance from someone who ‘owns’ that stage when she walks on.  Cheryl has a natural ability to connect with the audience, which not every actor can do.  The audience loved her as the Wicked Witch of the West and who knew she could sing…RESPECT!

Liam Mellor, Simon Foster and Phillip McGuinness provided us with the comedy courtesy of the Scarecrow, Lion and Tin man.  I had seen Liam in previous pantomimes (My niece has worked with him at Liverpool Empire and will again this year – proud uncle moment) and he is very at ease talking to the audience one on one.  His interaction with the children, who with the Golden Ticket, is wonderfully sarcastic and he knows where the line is between funny and aggressive.  Simon is a natural comedy performer and I adore his ‘mess ups’.  He doesn’t try and hide the fact he has made an error but embraces it with the ‘courage’ to have another go, all to the amusement of the adults and fellow cast members.  One skills I hadn’t seen from him before is his ability to use a ‘Super Soaker’.  He can hit adults or children from 20 yards away!  He then turned on his fellow cast members to the amusement of the audience.  Phillip McGuinness was the Scarecrow last year and I was interested to see what he would bring to his new role.  He didn’t disappoint.  What Phillip does that other actors don’t do is think about the role; the movement, the voice and how he interacts with others on stage.  He is a very talented actor and I am certain he will go on to big things within the industry. 

Last but certainly not least is the every sparkly, every smiling Claire Simmo.  What I enjoy about watching Claire’s performance is that she is having so much fun on stage ad this is then mirrored by the audience.  She has an excellent singing voice and can be relied upon to laugh along with the audience watching her fellow cast members.  I think she sometimes forgets she is in the show!!!!!

My favourite part of the show by far was the cast playing two or three roles during one of the songs.  This involved getting changed off, or sometimes on stage, while singing and doing actions.  This was the ‘Super Soaker’ moments!

One part I found slightly lost on was the illuminating teddy bears.  While I fully understand that sometimes you need a ‘filler’ scene while something else is happening, for me it just didn’t fit. It was fun to watch and sometimes in panto that’s fine.

So what am I saying?

Get along to see this brilliant production of The Wizard of Oz (On until Sunday I believe) and support local talent in a beautiful venue. 

They finished the show with ‘Oh what a night’.  It should have been ‘Oh what an afternoon’.