Drama Society tackles The Wizard of Oz.
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from February 2000.
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"Somewhere over the Rainbow" will forever be recognised as Judy Garland's theme song after she sang it as Dorothy in the movie. The Scarecrow who desires a brain, the Tinman who misses his heart and the Cowardly Lion are instantly recognisable characters who have endeared themselves to generations.
"It's my favourite film. It always has been, from the time I was child," acknowledges Colin Wilson, veteran member of the Cayman Drama Society. With years of experience as both director and actor, he has now set himself the task of bringing The Wizard of Oz to the stage of the Prospect Playhouse.
The degree to which he is successful will be apparent as of next Thursday, 10 February, when the show opens a four-weekend run.
Colin is working with a cast of 40, including 30 children, the youngest of whom is four.
In between rehearsals this week, he was remarkably calm and organised, making time to talk about a project that is obviously very special to him.
He pointed out that this year is the 100th anniversary of the publication of the book by L. Frank Baum that started it all: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The book Dorothy's adventures in Oz started as bedtime tales for Baum's four sons. Critics have called the book the best loved fairy tale ever written by an American author. But Baum himself preferred the term "wonder tale".
In an introduction to the first printing, he explained: "Folklore, legends, myths and fairy-tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvellous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Anderson have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.
"Yet the old-time fairytale, having served for generations, may now be classed as 'historical' in the children's library; for the time has come for a series of newer 'wondertales' in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incident devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale ..."
Mr. Baum then sets forth his own approach: aspiring to be a modernised tale "in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out."
This does indeed sound as if it were quite modern and based on some unenunciated psychological principle. Yes, Baum created lovable Munchkins and good witches. But he also invented Winged Monkeys to do the bidding of an ugly one-eyed Wicked Witch. He portrayed the Wizard himself as a disembodied head. His explanation for the Tin Woodsman is a graphic dismemberment.
It's more horrible than this reader expected and it was too much for the minds of the 1930s: the movie never explained how the Tinman came to be. The gap puzzled Colin until he read the book. He has revised the script to include, not the process by which the Woodsman was given his new persona, but the reason for the change. The result is a romantic story that serves as a good sub-plot. The movie The Wizard of Oz won three Oscars: a special award to Judy Garland, who was 17 at the time; one for its musical director, one for Best Song - "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".
Ironically, the song had been cut three times from the final print. People who should have known better objected to the "octave leap in the melody" - the poignant "Somewhere". Thankfully, wiser heads prevailed.
There are so many stories about the movie that, as late as 1989, a book was written about The Making of the Wizard of Oz.
One interesting fact about the movie was a change in cast, but not for the ordinary "artistic differences" reason. Ray Bolger was originally going to be the Tinman, but swaped roles with Buddy Ebsen who was going to be the Scarecrow. Both were accomplished dancers and could have played either part.
But Buddy got sick from the aluminium dust that was used to transform him into the Tinman. He was replaced by Jack Haley.
Since then, stage make-up has been improved to eliminate harsh chemicals, Colin said.
Few people except movie buffs may know that a 1925 film was also based on Baum's book. The silent movie emphasised "farmyard slapstick comedy" described as "heavy-handed, but it has its moments". The play
Although the play as it is known today is clearly based on the movie, it should be noted for completeness sake that Baum himself wrote a script for the stage and it was produced in 1903.
The above two facts are presented as evidence that the basic story and characters do have wide appeal and lend themselves to a variety of interpretations. The Wiz was written for an all-black cast and the 1975 Broadway show was made into a movie in 1978. Cayman enjoyed a production of The Wizard of Oz back in 1980, filling the old Royal Palms' Inn Theatre night after night. One of director Geoff Cresswell's strengths was casting; he persuaded Derek Tyler to be the Lion, Leroy Holness the Scarecrow, Percy Whorms the Tinman.
A precocious Victoria Wheaton played Dorothy better than anyone had a right to expect of a preteen. Of course she did have help on and off stage: the Good Witch was her mother, Anita. So Colin Wilson has a rich history to draw from and be compared to. He has included elements of audience interaction and added three songs.
But, he emphasises, all the original music is included ("Rainbow", "We're Off to See the Wizard", "If I Only Had a Brain"...). Newcomer Jacquelyne Gregorwich is Dorothy. The Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion are played by Ann O'Connell, Tony Rowlands and Martin Tedd. Mary Jane Isbell is the Wicked Witch of the West. Familiar faces from CITN include Cynthia Arie as not one but two witches, and Vanessa Hansen as the soulsucking Countess. Barrie Quappe makes a welcome return to the stage as the Munchkin Maiden.
Linda Rayner has choreographed the show, Angel Borden produces and Violetta Kanarek is responsible for costumes. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children. Call 949-5054 for reservations and information. References for this article: Broadway Musicals Show by Show, Halliwell's Film and Video Guide, The Great Songs Thesaurus all available at the Public Library.
