Anyone who knows me, even remotely, is well aware I’m quite excited for this Tuesday, 1 March, as it is the official opening night performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new production of The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium, and I will be in attendance!
The show has been, publicly, in development since the announcement of Lord Lloyd Webber’s then upcoming search for a new performer to take on the iconic role of Dorothy, as early as 2009, with the BBC program ‘Over the Rainbow’ running on BBC One from March to May, 2010.
Having not seen How to Solve a Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do, nor I’d Do Anything (Lord Lloyd Webber’s search for actors to play Maria, Joseph, and Nancy, respectively) my expectations, and hopes, for such a program, were mixed, if not outright pessimistic.
After all, Judy Garland is Dorothy, and to imagine anyone else playing the part was simply unthinkable, and for a moment, I wished for the failure of the project in total. How dare they even attempt to find a Dorothy?!
Interestingly, I had the same reaction (to a lesser extent) when the announcement of a musical version of Wicked surfaced. Gregory Maguire’s original revisionist novel is of a tone much darker than the musical, so I had little hope for it, and even actively avoided it for a few years, before rediscovering it quite by accident. My eventual love of the musical version of Wicked gives me hope the same may be true for this new version of The Wizard of Oz.
But, let’s be clear here; this is The Wizard of Oz. I’ve adored everything related to Oz (the books, the film, etc) and particularly Judy Garland, since I was five years old. I know the film’s screenplay by heart and every lyric to every song – even those cut from the final film! Even now, (being without a job and waiting for the Home Office to send me my UK work visa), I spend a great deal of each week day working on replicating Judy Garland’s ruby slippers, exactly as they actually appear today. So, I’m just a little picky.
However, even back in March 2010, I felt, if there were a person who could bring Oz to the stage, it was Lord Lloyd Webber. While he has never been a critic’s darling; his shows are, after all, accessible and popular, (How dare he!) he did nevertheless, bring the world Evita, Cats, and, of course, The Phantom of the Opera, among others, all musicals which I’ve admittedly enjoyed on stage, particularly Phantom, which I’ve seen many times over. While his recent work on the Phantom sequel, Love Never Dies, caused some initial concern; seeing it in its first few months, as much as I wanted to like it, I simply couldn’t; he has since rewritten much of the show, to eventual critical approval, if not acclaim. (I’m keen to see it again to reevaluate the show.)
So, when Over the Rainbow began in late March 2010, despite Lord Lloyd Webber’s directives that he wanted potential Dorothys to effectively wipe away the image of Judy Garland, to bring something fresh and original to the role, I nevertheless found myself looking for Garland in the contestants, which left me, initially, hoping for Dani Rayner to win, because she was 16, and bore a slight resemblance to the screen legend.
Once she was (rightfully) eliminated, in Week 3, when posed against the eventual winner, Danielle Hope, in a sing off of ‘Maybe This Time’ from Cabaret, I was irritated, as I was judging the girls not on their singing/dancing/acting abilities, but rather on their resemblance to Garland. (I was being petty – I got over it.)
After Dani’s elimination, I briefly backed Lauren Samuels to be Dorothy, but, while I found her voice extremely talented, she rubbed me (and much of the audience, it seems) the wrong way, coming off as either overconfident or arrogant, neither qualities one would want in a Dorothy. This, in my opinion, was particularly clear in Week 5 when Lauren sang ‘The Man That Got Away,’ a song, not insignificantly, originated by Judy Garland in A Star is Born, and meant for a somewhat older, and sexually experienced, woman. While I don’t know who chose the song, it was a bad choice, making Samuels seem even more big-headed, taking on a Garland standard far beyond her years.
This same week, Danielle Hope sang ‘Mambo Italiano,’ the number many feel became not only the number of the night, but that most remembered from the series as a whole. It quickly won me over, showing not only Hope’s formidable vocal talents, but equally her dancing abilities, and her real sense of fun, a trait Judy Garland herself possessed, and endeared her to those who knew her. Danielle, I realized that night, possesses many of the traits that made Judy Garland Dorothy.
For the remainder of the competition, I actively endorsed Danielle to be Dorothy, particularly enjoying her renditions of ‘On My Own’ (From Les Miserables), ‘Popular’ (From Wicked – with Lauren), and ‘Seventy Six Trombones’ (From The Music Man). By the final week of the program, I was thrilled to see Danielle win the competition, and the role of Dorothy.
Since May, 2010, there has been a small steady stream of information about the new production, but nothing more than slight tidbits, rehearsal photos, and behind the scenes video blogs, which, clearly, are always careful never to reveal too much, and never show much of the state of the Palladium stage. To do so, obviously, would be to reveal quite a lot, and the producers obviously want to entice the public as much as possible to come and see the show.
We do know, however, that Lord Lloyd Webber has re-teamed with his Evita lyricist, Tim Rice, to compose new numbers for the production, to accompany those written for the film by Harold Arlen and E. Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg, the results of which I’m quite anxious to hear!
I have never been one for going in search of spoilers, anyway. I quite enjoy the thrill of letting the theatrical experience unfold before me with my having quite little knowledge of it. I certainly wasn’t aware of the plot twists when I saw Wicked, and I’ve heard there are a few in Oz as well, even for those of us who know the film inside out. From the video blogs the production has released, I sense there is a fusion of both the original Baum novel, and the classic MGM film in this new production, a sense only heightened by the release this morning of a few new production stills. In the images released, both Danielle Hope, and Michael Crawford (as the Wizard) wear costumes quite reminiscent (though not exact copies) of the film originals, while Dorothy’s three companions (and Toto too!) seem drawn heavily from the original W.W. Denslow illustrations.
So, despite my initial reservations, I can’t wait for Tuesday! I’ll be the one, despite in the Royal Circle, in a full suit and tie, soaking up every moment of it!
