Winchester News Online
REVIEW: The Wizard of Oz at Mayflower Theatre
There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like… Southampton? ‘The Wizard of Oz’ has travelled straight from The London Palladium, past the Emerald City and onto the stage at Mayflower Theatre. This is an updated, modernised version of the major motion picture starring Judy Garland (you may have heard of it), as well as the classic – timeless musical. I’m sure you all know how L.Frank Baum’s original story goes. Maybe not from the book itself, but more than likely from the film or one of the countless retellings it has had. So there’s definitely no shock when it comes to the story, it does what it says on the tin. But how has it caught audiences attentions again in a different way to make it feel new and exciting, whilst keeping that lasting story and sense of magic from the original?
Well, one way is by getting theatre royalty in to help with the adaptation. Andrew Lloyd Webber & Jeremy Sams have done a great job by modernising the feel of the musical, whilst keeping the narrative the same. No surprise with their impressive back catalogues. All the original songs you’d expect to hear are still in there, but you’ll hear them with some twists and a few new additions as well (but more on this later). I’m not going to bore you with a quick synopsis of the storyline but I will say that this is just as magical, bright and glamorous as any other adaptation you may have seen. It’s textbook classic, modern theatre. The theming and movement in particular help make this performance feel so big, and this is something that you can see the whole company have worked very hard on. Director and Resident Director, Nikolai Foster and Rebecca Louis, have done a brilliant job in managing the movement of set with the actors and any special effects that have been used. It never felt too cluttered, but it always felt busy and as if there was something going on; I think the cast play their part in this fantastically as well.
Choreographer, Shay Barclay, has choreographed the show amazingly, with the cast and ensemble executing it to perfection.
The cast were brilliant. Playing the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’ was the ever fabulous The Vivienne, who was everything you’d expect her to be. Camp, fierce, and the perfect evil queen (I mean witch). Heading the show as ‘Dorothy’ is Aviva Tulley, who was sensational. Her rendition of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ left me with goosebumps, it was just beautiful (the adapted song is titled ‘Me Over The Rainbow’).
The relationship between her and her dog ‘Toto’ who was puppeteered by Abigail Matthews – was again incredibly touching. Matthews animated ‘Toto’ to perfection, even giving him a voice every now and then. Watching her was mesmerising, and you’d actually forget she was even there controlling ‘Toto’ at all, the best compliment for a puppeteer right? ‘The Scarecrow’ (Benjamin Yates), ‘The Tin Man’ (Marley Fenton), and ‘The Cowardly Lion’ (Nic Greensheilds), all shared a fantastic bond on stage – all individually with Dorothy and together. They each brought something special to their performances; and it certainly wasn’t a brain, a heart, or courage… not until the end anyway (Spoiler!). They all get their fair share of laughter and applause and it was well earned! All of the cast had such a high level of energy and the choreography really elevated the musical as a whole. Choreographer, Shay Barclay, has choreographed the show amazingly, with the cast and ensemble executing it to perfection. Bravo!
I’ve already mentioned how I thought the design was one of the key components in this adaptation being such a hit. The costumes, the lighting, the effects; they were all so Oz. I know that doesn’t make sense but it’s the best way to describe it. In terms of set, there wasn’t an awful lot of it. The show relied heavily on projections and pre-recored video to aid in the feel of being in a certain place. For a production of its size, I would’ve liked to have seen a few more pieces of set to help bring the magic of the story to life further.
The music was just wonderful.
The projections were very good, and at times very effective but I also feel that if you’re not sat central to the stage, then some of this ‘theatre magic’ can get lost very easily. Contradictory to this however, the ‘easter eggs’ to other shows and little jokes that were on the projections were a very nice touch – and they did help massively in modernising the show, giving it an edge we hadn’t seen before. The yellow brick road was one thing that I thought they did really well with; segmented pieces of moving set working together with the projections. To not reveal any spoilers, a certain scene with the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’ was also its own piece of theatre magic.
The music was just wonderful. The mix of the old with the new was fantastic. Tim Rice (Additional Lyrics), has done a great job in modernising verses on top of the originals. By keeping the majority of the song original and classic, but adding a modern twist on the end meant you didn’t take away from the masterpiece that we all know, but made it something new that kept us listening. Incredibly refreshing. An example of this that sticks out would be in the songs, ‘If I Only Had A Brain/Heart/(The)Nerve’. The show also had a live orchestra, and a live orchestra completes a show. Musical Director, Iestyn Griffiths, and the orchestra left me with shivers – just incredible. The score was perfection. Powerful, soft, and well… theatrical. Almost cinematic. Towards the start of the show, I heard a member of the audience say, “This is almost like watching a movie”. I can’t say I completely disagree.
All in all, this is a really strong show. It was my first time seeing it and I was worried it was going to fall into the shadow of ‘Wicked’. However, I quickly realised that this is the love child between the original ‘Wizard of Oz’ and ‘Wicked’. Everything fell into place perfectly and they have avoided it becoming just another adaptation. It has its own feet (and ruby red slippers to match!). The cast were great, and it’s a feel good show that leaves you feeling good. Like I said, it does what it says on the tin. This is a musical for the whole family. Those that love the original, and those where this musical may become their original. If you get the chance to see ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and classic musicals are your thing, you should definitely see this one. ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is at Mayflower Theatre until January 21st before continuing on its UK tour and I wish the whole company the best of luck on the yellow brick road.
Liphook United boss Carl Harris understands how much pressure is on his side as they are one win away from winning the Hampshire Premier League after their 3-1 victory on Tuesday night against Moneyfields Reserves.
Moneys took an early lead through former Portsmouth midfielder Stan Bridgman but Ryan Angear, Marco Sellitto and Marcus Bedford were on target for the Blues to gain all three points in East Hampshire.
Victory for Liphook saw them pick up their 11th win from losing positions this season, which saw Harris praised his squad’s character after Tuesday’s comeback.
He told Winol: “It’s always going to be tough game [against Moneyfields Reserves], they are playing to stay in the league and had a few first team players playing for them – Stan Bridgman and Elliott Turnbull.
“The last few weeks people have been saying we should win the league and now it’s just us to close it out.”
‘We are a second-half team’
Harris told Winol: “People have been saying – ‘how are Liphook going to win the league, they are not that good.’ I agree with people saying ‘we’re a second-half team’ and it’s nothing to do with other than character.
“The character of my team is the best I know, that is the 11th time this season we have come back from behind and won. That’s character so when we look like we’re down and out, we’re not.
“People can say whatever they like, it’s just one more now.”
One more win
Saturday afternoon could see Liphook become winners of the Hampshire Premier League for the first time since 2012.
A win on Saturday against rock bottom Fleet Spurs will see the Blues win the league with four games to spare.
Fleet have only two league wins all season, Liphook will certainly go into the game as favorites.
The two sides met earlier this month as the Blues took home all three points at Kennels Lane.
“It’s the day we wanted,” said Harris. “At home [on a Saturday], our Reserves are playing before us – the whole club will be here, and that is something no one can take away from us.
“It will be tough [against Fleet Spurs], only won 3-2 against a good side. Every game is tight, and we will probably make hard work of it but I don’t care as long as we get our day.”
The Royal Navy FA have booked their place in the Portsmouth Senior Cup final after last night’s 2-0 victory over Petersfield Town.
The Rams came into the tie with a much stronger side with the returning Tommy Tierney, former Portsmouth midfielder Charlie Bell and captain Liam Kimber making the starting 11 after being rested on Monday night.
Petersfield controlled the early stages of the game but the RN were able to create some chances. Skipper Danny Kerr had his effort palmed away by youngster Harvey Greenfield, before Elliot Holmes’ strike was comfortable caught by the Rams keeper.
The RN continued to break on the counter, looking to attack down the flanks, but had no luck with Petersfield’s dominant display and they failed to really test Dane Rigby. Tyler Giddings’ effort was blasted over as Jake Thomson has his low drive blocked.
Tierney’s strike was pushed away for a corner by Rigby as Kimber tried his luck from range just before the break.
HT: Petersfield Town 0-0 Royal Navy FA
Just seconds into the restart Petersfield came extremely close to taking the lead with Kimber’s strike just going wide of the post.
Cam Quirke had two opportunities on goal, which were comfortable caught by Greenfield.
Two quick chances for the Rams saw Giddings’ header snatched by Rigby as Charlie Merritt drilled his effort wide.
Kerr and Holmes combined just outside the box, which allowed substitute Sanchez Jansz-Baker to volley his effort over the bar.
However shortly afterwards Jansz-Baker found the bottom left corner to put the RN ahead with 20 minutes remaining.
Tierney had another opportunity, this time to make it level, but he curled his effort from outside the box wide.
Petersfield believed they should of been awarded a penalty when Callum Knoll was bought down by Jim Cox, the referee waved play on.
The Rams controlled the later stages of the game. Alex Hulme’s strike was blocked by Rigby as Bell managed to pick out Thomson late on but his header was cleared away.
In the third minute of added time Petersfield’s last attack of game saw Bell square it across the face of goal but Shawn Benjamin managed hook it clear.
This allowed another attack for the RN, which saw Sean Powell net in the late on to secure their spot in final of Portsmouth Senior Cup
FT: Petersfield Town 0-2 Royal Navy FA
Gosport Borough or Portsmouth U21s will lock horns with the RN at the PMC Stadium next month.
Connor Hoare told Winol: “We could have been 2-0 up before their first goal. Liam [Kimber], Charlie [Merritt] and Tommo [Jake Thomson] had chances, and we make a mistake, 1-0.
“We just said to the lads [after the game], it’s a bit of our story of the season – on top of games, but all of a sudden they are taking their opportunities. The amount of times this season, whether that be at half-time or at the end of the game, we’ve gone ‘how have we not won that game?’ It has been relentless the amount of times we’ve said that, and today was another case of it.”
What has gone wrong?
The Rams have been missing a lot of key players due to injury in recent weeks. Keeper Ellis Grant, Ollie Davis, Cam Smith and Chad Cornwell have all been sidelined.
Archie Greenough and Dec Seiden, who finished off as the club’s top goalscorer despite leaving in early February, both left Petersfield during the season.
Seiden’s 15 goals for Hoare’s side earned him a move back to Moneyfields, who scored a further five times for the Wessex Premier League champions.
Hoare has expressed how the club’s struggled since Seiden’s departure, and has hinted where the Rams will be looking to strength next season: “Losing Dec was massive for us, he had a lot of goal contributions, it was actually quite difficult [the transition from losing him] – we prepare a way of playing around him.
“You take him out, you take all your goals out.
“The last few months [since Dec left] we’ve been playing Liam Kimber, who is a midfielder, as a striker – because we’ve no one else. Ollie Davis was our biggest goal threat all season, he suffered a four month injury. We know we need a striker, winger and a really experienced centre-back [when we go into recruitment in the summer].
“We’re looking for more experience, we’ll come back as a better team, next year”
Petersfield Town will be aiming to book their place in the final of the Portsmouth Senior Cup for the first time in seven years when they welcome the Royal Navy FA on Thursday Night, following a disappointing 5-1 defeat against Fareham Town on Monday night.
National South side Havant & Waterlooville’s withdrawal from the competition, a few days after their relegation was confirmed, saw the Rams progress to the final four.
From being one of the favourites to being relegated, to avoiding the relegation battle completely, Connor Hoare’s debut season as Petersfield manager, a chance of silverware would be icing on the cake.
Whereas the RN have swept aside Hampshire Premier League sides Denmead and Paulsgrove.
But Hoare has concerned ahead of the semi-final tie – saying the game is ‘one of the most difficult games to prepare for,’ when speaking to Winol before last Saturday’s draw against Cowes Sports.
Hoare said: “I think it is probably one of the most difficult games to prepare for, to be honest. You don’t know anything about them – you don’t know the players, you have no footage – you always must go into the game just worrying about yourself.
“The results clearly speak for themselves, they’re [Royal Navy FA] are a good side. They’re obviously fit because they’re in the navy, and that is all you can predicted. With that knowledge, we are going to have to run as much as they are going to run.
“We know they are more coached than they’re – we can use that to our advantage”
Briefing on Monday’s game:
A heavily rotated Petersfield Town suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat against Fareham Town on Monday night which even saw both Rams managers Hoare and Callum Glen on the pitch, rather than the dugout.
Jamie Truckell netted a first-half hat-trick as Jamie Hosking scored two free-kicks for the Creeksiders.
Jo Houldsworth scored a late consolation for Petersfield.
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