The Wizard of Oz is a classic story of a girl learning a lesson through a psychotropic trip of witches and lions and scarecrows. With brains, a little bit of courage, and a heart to care for those she loves, Dorothy (Marlayah McLeod) journeys through the Land of Oz to find the titular character (Barry Daley) to help her go home. Plagued by the Wicked Witch of the West (Thea Nikolic) who is after the ruby slippers (or ruby sneakers in this production), Dorothy must go through some tribulations and trials before returning home.

I’m unfamiliar with the stage version of this show, but it’s altogether not so different from the Judy Garland version that many adore. Orpheus has really shown its capability to create a quality theatre experience and I was altogether impressed with such a solid show they created. They really pulled out all of the stops when it came to every little bit of detail to this show

General Direction

Riley Stewart is the director of this show and this was his debut as a director for Orpheus. The general direction of the show is honestly solid. It’s a very safe choice for a show and there’s not much crazy choices one could choose to do with blocking; however, where the blocking really shines is the usage of the set design. I’ll gush more about the sets below, but this is one of the most technically designed and creative sets I’ve seen Orpheus do. With Dreamgirls, I was astounded by the revolving stage, but I haven’t seen such tight and thoughtful design since one of their older productions in 2016.

Choreography

I know that this show isn’t a dance heavy show with only one number being the “Jitterbug”, I wasn’t altogether impressed with most of the choreo. A lot of it felt very repetitive and safe, with box steps and step touches being overused. I did appreciate the usage of soft-shoe dancing throughout the show, it’s a clever usage of a dance style that’s tied to classic heritage. The time I wish more interesting choreo was used is during the one big dance number, “Jitterbug”. The song lends itself well to swing dancing and we saw the usage of jive and some Charleston, but altogether it didn’t have that energy I wanted. There was one moment of cool acrobatics with a flip done by one of the Jitterbugs (Rachel Myrah) and I wish there was more of that.

Choreo also includes movement and the movement I was looking forward to the most were from The Tinman (Jesse Gervais-Weedmark) and The Scarecrow (Corgand Svendsen). Safe to say, I was blown away by Svendsen’s movements! The limberness and altogether ragdoll movements he had were phenomenal. They truly embodied the character of The Scarecrow in their movement and in their mannerisms. This sadly set the bar on all the other main characters where I felt like it missed the mark. I wish The Tinman was a bit more mechanical in their movements, especially during their “I want” song. Their movement didn’t depict a man who is a living example of the Ship of Theseus made of metal, but just a man with metal parts.

Music Direction

Musically, this show is extremely solid. It’s also a very tricky show with how long it is and the absolutely intense rhythms in the orchestration. There are also some tricky harmonic moments for the ensemble, but under the direction of Paul Legault, I’m honestly unsurprised at how well polished the sound of the show is. Legault has shown time and time again to be one of the best music directors in Ottawa with this ability to create beautiful tapestries of sound.

Now some negative personal opinions… I’m unsure if it’s their regular voice or if it’s a voice they put on for the show, but McLeod’s accent throughout the show reminded me of Ariana Grande as Kat Valentine on the show Victorious. As soon as I recalled what it sounded like to me, I couldn’t help put it out of my mind. This voice also bled into their vocals, which gave it this cursive singing style. One could argue, these two things I mention are very similar to the original Judy Garland; however, the reason why it works for Garland and not in this instance is the difference in media: live theatre vs. recording.

Another nitpick I have is with Glinda (Andréa Black), maybe it’s the way that I compare it to the Wicked versions of her, but in the original movie as well, Glinda has this brightness and lightness to her voice. Black is able to portray this kind and caring character very well with her voice as Aunt Em, but there’s not much difference when it comes to Glinda and it felt more like Aunt Em cosplaying as The Good Witch of the North. Even during songs, I heard more unsupported head voice than I wish to have. Overall, Black and McLeod do a great job with their respective roles, but I wish they worked more on the vocal stylizations.

Design (set, sounds, and lights)

Even though The Wizard of Oz is a classic tale and when you play with classics, you tend to stay true to the original and leave little room for interpretation. Stewart takes the Land of Oz and transforms it into what looks like a Steampunk adventure. Here is where the blocking and general direction of the show shines. With amazing puppets of Toto (Alianne Rozon) and the robot version of The Wizard of Oz were absolutely astounding! The ingenious usage of the set that hid the trees until they started talking was also a crazy great usage of puppetry. They have huge set pieces in this show that move with some crazy exact precision. From a flying walkway, to a multi-use staircase, to a gigantic fly of the blimp at the end that takes up the whole stage, the sets were absolutely living large. It allowed Stewart to use these different levels to portray action and gave lighting the opportunity to get really clever with the lighting.

That being said, I had some issues that are minor. The famous yellow brick road makes a small appearance in the form of a small light cue. For being basically a background main character, the yellow brick road is absent for a lot of the show with only the lighting cue as it’s representation. Another thing is the Steampunk aspect of the show. There were moments where I wish they leaned more into that aspect as it felt like the environment was very well in that area of Steampunk, but the characters themselves felt completely out of place. This is also where it hampered the clarity of the visuals. The trees were so well blended into the background that I honestly didn’t think they were trees even after their reveal. The mixture of green and yellows works extremely well with the patina from Steampunk for colour coordination, but that’s as far as the idea goes.

Costumes

Orpheus’ costumes are usually a knockout in their past shows, and this show is no stranger to that. From the incredible mechanics behind the pop-out wings of the flying monkeys to the Emerald City’s denizens clad, the costumes department did an excellent job in kitting out mostly everyone in beautifully designed costumes! Take a look at the photo below and see how well The Scarecrow and The Tinman look. I did find it also interesting that The Wicked Witch of the West (Thea Nikolic) wasn’t green and I understand in the original books she wasn’t green until the 1939 movie because of the invention of Technicolor; however, I’m a sucker for the green.

That being said, take a look at The Lion (Karsten Skeries). It pales in comparison in quality compared to the others. They looked more like a lost pirate than they did a lion, with baggy clothing and face painting that gives birthday party vibes. I can’t help, but think that their costume was a second thought because of their size, which is a problem that runs rampant in theatre in general. Size inclusivity in theatre does not stop at casting and should extend into all aspects of the show.

Standouts

There were some exceptional standouts in this show! Alianne Rozon does a fantastic job puppeteering Toto and gave a hilarious performance of a dog throughout the show. Corgand Svendsen’s Scarecrow was at the top of my list with this clownish depiction that made me laugh and smile, also the crazy athleticism needed to remain so loose in movement. Barry Daley also does a wonderful job as Prof. Chester Marvel and The Wizard of Oz, giving us this eccentric, questionable genius. Thea Nikolic is also here in the standouts because of how much she made me hate her character, the absolute wickedness she portrayed in both roles was astounding.

Overall, Orpheus really hit it outta the park with this production. There are moments of absolute brilliance in the design of this show and it is a marvel in how well everything was put together. If you have the time, I would suggest you run and buy your tickets now.