Wizard of Oz RSC Olivier Awards

[sarcadam88]

Posted: 7/24/09 at 7:26pm

I always kind of had the notion this was kind of a strange production, but this performance at the Olivier Awards confirms it...
Whoa.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/24/09 at 7:44pm

That was fun. I've always felt that the original production was a bit of a mess. This does help to confirm it. There's B-roll footage of the Madison Square Garden production on youtube with the witch played by JoAnne Worley which is almost equally as strange, though I do have fond memories from seeing that tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur90okVDYHA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6fwQuACs2s Updated On: 7/24/09 at 07:44 PM

[Flaunt It]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 3:03pm

That clip was from an awards show and on the set of another show. I think that makes it a bit less weird.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 4:58pm

Not really. The set wasn't the weird part.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 5:20pm

Glinda and (oh hell I'll say it) Elphaba were played by...dudes?

[zepka102]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 5:30pm

I don't know what to say. But the way the wicked witch sniffed the poppies explains it all.

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 5:30pm

Yeah, was it like a drag show?

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 6:14pm

Cirque du Ozzay.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 7:02pm

I believe it's just the wicked witch being played by a man. Glinda was played by Joyce Grant. I've always assumed it was a British pantomime concept that allowed for a man in drag.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 7:59pm

Let's face it, the British have a long history of loving men in drag on stage.

[YipHarburg]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 11:13pm

Did Dorothy have a gap in her teeth?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 11:29pm

At least they tried something original. Every production I've seen tries to copy the original film beat by beat.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 11:31pm

JoAnne Worley looks like she was a hoot in those Madison Square Garden clips.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 11:42pm

I'm with BobbyBubby on this. I really loved the design because it wasn't just another carbon copy.

An Art Deco Emerald City? Poppies that look like Follies girls? A Munchkinland that looks like the old Paramount Pictures Studio (complete with Hollywood/Munchkinland sign)? A Wicked Witch in Purple? Dorothy's wig changing colors from Kansas to Oz (along with her dress)?

I would KILL to see a production be that gutsy today.

[bwayguy22089]

Posted: 7/26/09 at 12:12am

This was the original RSC adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (the version that is often done in high schools and on national tours). It is a perfect adaptation (IMO). It manages to maintain all the famous quotes from the movie, all the songs (including much of the background music) and much of the story, while still adding some new things (such as restoring the Jitterbug, adding some new, beautiful orchestrations and dance music... and it just works as a theatrical piece this way). After reading this script and hearing the wonderful cast recording, I'm shocked that ALW thinks he can do better. Here's another clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaGejGWBOe0

Also, Gillian Bevan (the actress playing Dorothy) sounds strangely like a mature Judy Garland.



Updated On: 7/26/09 at 12:12 AM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/26/09 at 12:15am

Andrew Lloyd Webber and the BBC have abandoned the search for Dorothy and the new adaption of the show... at least for now.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/26/09 at 12:16am

A recent production in Seattle changed Dorothy's dress and the audience freaked out.

[bwayguy22089]

Posted: 7/26/09 at 12:38am

I don't think he abandoned the show completely. But I think he will. I think Love Never Dies will consume him for at least a few years. Hopefully he will forget the idea and leave the show as is. I've never heard of anyone seeing the RSC version and not liking it (the version, not the particular production lol). What I also love about this production (the 1987-89 RSC one) is that the characters are real. It seems like so many Oz shows dumb down the characters so the children will follow the story. Children are not stupid. Here, Dorothy is actually a real person and not just some actress who simply acts cute and speaks her lines very slowly.