The Wizard of OZ Performance Review
I recently viewed ‘The Wizard of Oz’ play at Tulsa Performing Arts Center. From my perspective, the performance was spectacular and exceeded my expectations. ‘The Wizard of OZ’ has an ancient story line hence the need for the performance to concentrate each one of its scenes on certain themes and depictions never seen before or normally ignored by the public or audience.
After opening the curtains, the audience soaked in the first scene, which immediately drew our attention, retaining it for the rest of the play. At no point did it disappoint due to the appealing actors, donning luminously decorated costumes. The rest of audience and I happily tagged along the yellow slab path as we watch Dorothy attempt making the global a better place. More so, one of my favorite scene during the play was the twister. Unlike other plays, which normally downplay this particular scene, this version reincarnated a Tornado blowing items away and businesses displayed creatively on the background.
Still on the first scene, Dorothy meets new associates in the Land of Oz; all of them have one aspect in common: trying to improve their personalities and become better versions of themselves. For instance, Scarecrow and lion are some of the personalities attempting to improve themselves and change the world in the process.
As the curtains falls and opens again, it marks the ending and beginning of the second scene. Toto and Dorothy accompanied by Scarecrow, who desires a brains; Tin Woodman longs for emotions and Cowardly lion in pursuit of courage. They above characters go through numerous challenges as they search for their desires. Nevertheless, they triumph all over the problems frequently due to Scarecrow’s positive side and human attitude toward obstacles faced each day.
Finally, they arrive at Emerald city after the third scene comes to a halt. Emerald city has gates with greenish glasses and directly leads the characters to the Palace of Oz. Oz assures them that they can only gain his favor after killing a witch.
The characters immediately begin their search for the witch in the property of Winkies, governed by the witch. In a move to stay alive, the witch sends dark magic against the companions. Wolves, cows among other animals launch their attack against the companions. A winged monkey kills Scarecrow and the rest of the crew. Nevertheless, Dorothy and the Toto end up enslaved in the evil hands of the witch. All that the witch desires is Dorothy’s pair of shoes, which possess powerful magic. Consequently, she engineers a plan to take away the shoes when Dorothy accidentally falls down. Then, she holds onto one of the shoes. Dorothy angered by her actions throws a container full of water at the evil witch. The evil witch melts away and the behind the scene crew takes her away. Dorothy then goes ahead and sets free the Lion and assist to give the winkies a hand as they repair their cities and homes for the sake of protection in case of another calamity.
My take on the play was the performance of the characters. Each one of them brought something unique to the play, displaying traits fans never experienced before. They cohesive flow of the play was inspiring and easy to follow and set pace.
