(Above: Three of the most-beloved misfits of stage and screen occupy the personalities of the Cowardly Lion, the Tinman and the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, played at Actors Cabaret of Eugene by Cameron Graham, Chad Lowe, and Colin Gray.)
By Kelly Oristano
The Wizard of Oz, now playing at Actors Cabaret, is a fun, funny, familiar family fantasy. An enthusiastic cast of dozens and a hypercolorful production present a vibrant, interesting retelling of the Yellow Brick Road Movie. In this version of Kansas, it takes a village to save a child, and, working together in fantasy and reality, that’s what this village does.
Directed smartly by Anthony Krall, this Wizard is reverent toward the classic film without attempting at every point to strictly recreate it. Krall allows the story to move at times more briskly and at other times lets actors and set pieces take a little time to breathe, capitalizing on what makes live theater more immediate than film. A tender scene between Professor Marvel and Dorothy Gale in Kansas, for example, has more resonance and depth here than in the film. Mary Jensen and Joe Zingo’s costumes and sets are quite lovely and whimsical, and all the more impressive for the sheer number of costumes that had to be created.
First in a drab Kansas and then in an explosively colorful Oz, Dorothy is the figure at the center of the storm. Kate Fairbairn is a strong Dorothy with a lovely, natural singing voice. Her desire to complete her journey, and her consternation when setbacks are revealed, are played earnestly, with a surprising reality. The audience can become invested anew in this Dorothy, so while the journey is familiar, our emotional reactions to it can stay fresh.
The Kansas prologue is mercifully efficient. Copious details are delivered of the feud between the Gales and the Gulches — the former being good hard working people of the land and the latter persnickety self-satisfied idle rich folk — though you’ll notice none of these details come back to matter at the end. Our familiar fantasy friends are introduced via their real life counterparts, always with archly foreshadowing jokes. It’s important to note in this retelling that Dorothy chooses to leave home. She’s basically run away from the homestead when the storm hits, and it’s clearer here than in the film that the storm and Oz can be read to represent her guilt about leaving and her anxiety about getting back.
But we’re soon enough in Oz, and straight away there’s a big ensemble number. And I mean a big ensemble number. There are 27 people and one dog in the cast and at least 20 of them were up on the tiny stage at ACE for Dorothy’s Welcome to Oz. It’s a lot of people and you might think at times it could be too much, but it’s this element, more than any other, that harkens to the era in which this show originated. We don’t often see stages crammed full of people to give the impression of a populous town today, but in the film and theatre of the ’30s it was very common. Times were hard; people needed to work. Benevolent producers and directors threw as many people on the stage or screen as the bottom line would allow. The few large ensemble scenes in this production, while unwieldy, felt like a captivating artifact from another time.
Of course, the whole town doesn’t tag along with Dorothy as she continues her journey. She sets out alone down that metallic masonry metaphor, and before long, one introductory song at a time, she meets her time-honored traveling companions. Colin Gray is vocally and physically dead-on as Scarecrow, hitting notes of teamwork and support for your friends that put the subtext of the show on display. Chad Lowe’s Tinman is practiced and thoughtful. Intentional or not, he was deeply reminiscent of the android Kryten from the BBC sitcom Red Dwarf, a spiritual sibling to the classic Tinman. Cameron Graham is a standout as the Lion. Graham’s voice and manner are extremely well (fur) suited to the role and he delivers Lion’s many jokes with panache.
Cyndy Duerfeldt and Emily Westlund, as the bad and good witches, are funny, faithful recreations of their film counterparts in wardrobe and in physical and vocal characterization. Duerfeldt’s cackle is memorably uncanny. Kim Fairbairn is a brightly believable Auntie Em and Scott Machado is knowing and charismatic as Marvel and Oz. Adam Goldthwaite’s original Oz Puppet is a remarkable achievement of stagecraft.
The ensemble, as mentioned, is large; but they are an ensemble in the true sense of the word and they add greatly to the experience of the evening. The inclusion of the Jitterbug song, cut from the movie, is another interesting time-travel moment, as much an artifact of its era as a sad pop song over a montage is an artifact of your current favorite hour TV drama.
It’s always been a strangely balanced story, all prologue and exposition until well past the middle, then a mad dash from the reveal of the Wizard to the dispatching of the Witch to the failed attempt to return to Kansas followed immediately by the successful attempt. But what comes through in this production is everyone on both sides of the dream working hard to get Dorothy back to family, back to home. It’s a rushed and unexplained resolution, like most dreams, but it feels good.
Good for Dorothy, good for her friends and family, and good for us.
The Wizard of Oz Continues its run at Actors Cabaret of Eugene
When: 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 23-24 and 30, and Dec. 1, 7-8, 14-15; and 2 p.m. matinees on Dec. 2 and 9
Where: Actors Cabaret, 996 Willamette St., Eugene
Details: Tickets available for show only or show-and-meal or by advance reservation for show and meal; tickets are not available online the day of the show
Tickets: Show only, $16 to $27; show and dinner, $34.95 to $49.95; show and brunch, $34.95 to $42.95, available at the box office, 541-683-4368 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, or online at actorscabaret.org/tickets
Information: actorscabaret.org
