|
|||
|
Youth Theatre Reviews |
|||
|
|
The Wizard of OzBy Frank L Baum W.C.Fields famously advised, "Never work with children or animals". To discover what happens when confronted with both, we need look no further than a performance of The Wizard of Oz - a splendid example of which is this week's Stage '65 Youth Theatre production of Frank Baum's account with the familiar Herbert Stothart score at Salisbury Playhouse. In the first place, there are two Totos - in the opening scenes in Kansas, four legged Dexi, a lively 18 month-old Jack Russell of considerable personality giving a performance which entirely grabs the large audience, leaving no doubt at all as to the wisdom of the second part of Fields's maxim. Only when Dexi is replaced by Sam Arnold as Toto in Oz, do we suddenly appreciate the dramatic appeal of children - of whom there are more than sixty in this lively production by Ben Occhipinti with excellent musical direction by Rob Hiley who leads the ensemble from the piano. There is excellent design by Karen McKeown whose earlier work with Stage '65 and Ben Occhipinti has included Oliver, The Boy Friend and The Crucible. Dorothy is strongly played by Ella Dunlop, who makes no attempt to ape the late, great JG, but is by no means lacking in decibels. Competent performances, too, from Sam Arnold (Toto), Hannah Anderson (Wicked Witch) and Steve Bennett (Wizard). And there is some imaginative playing by Holly Jasper (Scarecrow), Craig Phelps (Tin Man) and Amy Job (Lion). No prize however for spotting that four-legged Dexi is the only character with a biography in the programme. Thus we learn that he was a refugee from the Dogs Trust and a graduate of the "Dogs for Fun" training centre at Pitton, where he won a Kennel Club silver good citizen award and is now up for his gold! For dogs, it can't get much better than that! And for this performance in The Wizard of Oz, Dexi was trained by his new owner, Sue Holstead.
|
||
|
|