BWW Reviews: Fulton's WIZARD OF OZ Brings Lions and Tigers and Even a Circus to the Classic Musical

THE WIZARD OF OZ is one of those things that lives in America's collective unconscious as well as its conscious mind. Although the book was always popular as a children's story, it was the 1939 movie that came to dwell in our midst, and the stage musical is an adaptation of that. Harold Arlen's and Edgar "Yip" Harburg's music and lyrics from the movie are part of our daily lives, especially the Oscar-winning "Over the Rainbow" (although this writer admits to being a habitual "lions and tigers and bears" chanter). For many people, the hallmark of a successful production of THE WIZARD OF OZ on stage is how precisely evocative it is of the MGM classic.

On the other hand, there's more to a great stage show than a mere re-enactment of the movie on which it's based, and Marc Robin, artistic director at the Fulton, is clearly aware of that. If a production is the product of the director's auteurship, then the current THE WIZARD OF OZ at the Fulton, which is indeed large and splashy if not, as professed, the largest and splashiest show ever put on there, then the insight we are given into his mind is interesting at the very least. In fact, the show is so bright, so colorful, so splashy, so bewildering in scope of its action, that it's a bit reminiscent of looking through a kaleidoscope - possibly while on some interesting drugs that this writer would love to try some time. Robin's mind is obviously expansive to hold all of this show within it and to make it not only sensible but quite delightful.

This is not your mother's WIZARD. Diane Paulus' PIPPIN shows up, by way of 2 Ring Circus and their stuntwork. Trees are Latina drag queens performing as the Supremes, and the front door bellman of Oz is a giant, maneuverable puppet. The Cowardly Lion has a nod to THE LION KING, and all of this is for starters. Did we mention the hula hoops?

The production is epic - enough so that it may border on being a spectacle rather than a mere musical. It's perilously close to being all spectacle and losing sight of the original musical, but it does refrain from going overboard, even if it does go over the top. If you lose track during the proceedings, the map and story outline on the proscenium will remind you of where Dorothy and her friends are during these dazzling, possibly blinding, events.

Dorothy? Friends? Oh, right, there's a cast in the midst of the carnival. Fortunately they're mostly solid, because a weak cast would completely disappear here. Liz Shivener's Dorothy is delightful and holds her own against all of the happenings on stage around her, as well as, perhaps most importantly, selling "Over the Rainbow" to a new crowd. Timothy Hughes' Scarecrow is almost boneless, with fine physical acting to prove that he's only made of straw. Will Ray's Tin Man is also wonderfully realized, and the Lion, Jason E. Simon, is eerily reminiscent of Bert Lahr without copying him at all. While all three of Dorothy's friends are standout performers, Simon delivers the most perfectly realized character. You may need to restrain yourself from hugging him. Katie Sina is a Glinda for the ages, charming without being syrupy, soft-voiced and not shrill. If anything's off in her Glinda, it's that Glinda is so perfectly a fairy princess, not a witch.

Nigel deserves special credit for a magnificent performance as Toto, tolerating being carried about under Dorothy's arm, being boxed up by mean old Miss Gulch, and being as adorable as a Toto should be without any protest. A star is clearly in our midst with Nigel, who is also no stranger to Broadway. There are not enough gushy words for a pet lover to say about this production's Toto.

If only Elvira Gulch fared as well. Mark G. Hawbecker seems more farcical than scary as Dorothy's Kansan antagonist, and while he's much scarier as the Wicked Witch, perhaps WICKED itself has made it harder for audiences to work up the proper degree of antipathy towards the Evil One (after all, now we know she was just misunderstood).

And while we're on the Witch, what about those flying monkeys? If you're going to bring on the flying monkeys, let them fly. The equipment's there for it. Running around on pogo-type running blades is the wrong effect.

Still, the whole thing is beautifully choreographed, and the welcome to Munchkinland is a nearly-psychedelic riot of song, dance, stunts, children's ensemble, and general silliness. The jitterbug scene (alas, cut from the original movie) is equally beautifully choreographed - and even more silly, as it was written primarily to play with a popular dance craze of the period (thank the universe that no one has as yet felt the need to write the Macarena into any musicals). Still, it does its job so that the pogoing running-blading monkeys can capture Dorothy, and without that, the witch can't be melted.

OZ purists may find themselves disturbed by the book-ending of the Oz story in the Kansas storyline. The projected videos are far better than most video sets, and make the tornado scene quite spectacular, but there seems to be less of the opening than one normally notes, and the ending, when the farmhands normally return, has been changed radically. Some of us may find the closing scene a vast improvement over the usual ending, but purists are likely to be dismayed. This writer finds it - except for the lack of the farmhands - much more satisfying than the traditional movie and stage interpretation of Dorothy's fever dream. It will delight small children fully, and will soothe the souls of those OZ lovers who truly understand the cultural metaphors that have developed around the story. For some people, Robin's ending may be cathartic; it was for this writer, who has always been let down by the original ending of the movie, but bored to high heaven by the rest of Baum's Oz writings.

If this is what lurks inside director Marc Robin's mind, there's a very happy place indeed inside him. It's a place of Diane Paulus musicals, Disney references, some truly serious camp, and an abiding love not only for THE WIZARD OF OZ but for its marks on our culture. While its result is not at all a purist delivery, and some may indeed be disturbed by that, it's ultimately a coherent vision underneath the dizzying array of sound, light, color, and pop culture references.

Is it the biggest thing ever to hit the Fulton stage? Who knows - who's counting? It's certainly one of the most creative things to appear on it, and it's one of the most visibly director-auteur productions that have been on the main stage there. It lends itself to hours of discussion that won't be gone into here, analyzing takes on metaphor that Robin almost certainly hasn't analyzed yet himself. But mostly, it's dazzling fun that almost requires having ADHD to take in every sight on stage. It may be more fun than a barrel of... flying... monkeys.

At the Fulton in Lancaster through July 12. Call the Fulton at 717- 397-7425 or visit thefulton.org for tickets and information.

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