The Wizard of Oz at The Bristol Hippodrome
Posted on: 2024-04-04
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It’s time to pop on your ruby slippers and follow the yellow brick road all the way to Bristol Hippodrome!
It’s time to pop on your ruby slippers and follow the yellow brick road all the way to Bristol Hippodrome, where Dorothy and friends have arrived on the latest leg of the UK tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s version of The Wizard of Oz.
Playing until Sunday 7th April this timeless musical classic is loved by audiences the world over. Based on the book by L Frank Baum, the story of Dorothy Gale and her little dog Toto has been enjoyed by millions who have been captivated by the 1930s Judy Garland film. This version is not a recreation of the film, though it includes the well-known and loved Harold Arlen and E.Y Harburg songs from the movie as well as introducing the audience to a few new songs courtesy of Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
For anyone who doesn’t know (and there are some, including my 10-year-old niece who joined me on this trip to Oz) this is the tale of a young girl from Kansas who is unhappy with her lot, feels ignored by her family and dreams of a better life out there, somewhere over the rainbow.
Just as Dorothy decides to run away from her dreary life in the mid-west a cyclone sweeps across the prairie ripping up everything in its path including Dorothy, Toto and her entire house. All are unceremoniously dumped in the magical land of Oz, with the house squashing the Wicked Witch of the East in the process and incurring the wrath of her vengeful sister.
The musical follows Dorothy as aided by good witch Glinda she strives to find her way home from this strange world, journeying across the land with her newfound friends the scarecrow, Tin Man and lion as she seeks out the wonderful Wizard of Oz, the only person powerful enough to get her home and grant her friends own wishes for a brain, heart and courage respectively.
Needless to say, good wins out, evil is vanquished, the heroes' wishes are fulfilled, and Dorothy makes it back to Kansas by way of a few nifty song and dance routines, and the inventive use of projections to whisk everyone from Kansas, via Munchkin Land, to the Emerald City and back to Kansas again.
This is a fun production, with colourful costumes - including an inspired take on Glinda who is dressed in a 1950s-style Barbie pink outfit and arrives on stage on a scooter - and a bold and bright (if sometimes basic) set. There are some fun modern twists on display too, including Glinda’s mobile phone wand and the Munchkins taking sneaky selfies with the Dorothy the celebrity witch killer.
As Dorothy, Aviva Tulley is delightful. Her performance is captivating as she shows off Dorothy’s feisty side, and in quieter moments with her version of the iconic Somewhere over the Rainbow is beautiful and powerful. Her companions Benjamin Yates (Scarecrow), Aston Merrygold (Tin Man) and Nic Greenshields (Cowardly Lion) have great chemistry, they embody their roles wonderfully and make a funny and charming group. Her fourth companion Toto was nowhere near as charming. In this incarnation, he is realised in the form of a puppet, and while Abigail Matthews does a good enough job of bringing him to life, she also proved a distraction on stage and was something I, unfortunately, couldn’t get accustomed to.
If the cheer at the curtain call was anything to go by the star of the show as far as the audience was concerned was The Vivienne, whose Wicked Witch of the West was a statuesque triumph giving off old-school witchy vibes and showing off a pretty decent voice.
As it’s the Easter holidays there were quite a few children in the audience, and all seemed to be entranced by the spectacle. The Wizard of Oz is a brilliant show for the whole family to enjoy, a bold retelling of the story which satisfies adults' appetite for nostalgia while introducing enough quirky twists to keep things fresh and fun. Well worth a look.
The Wizard of Oz runs at The Bristol Hippodrome until Sunday 7 April 2024, grab your tickets HERE.
Article by:
Sarah-Jane is an aficionado of film, theatre, culture and the arts. A voracious reader and avid crafter, she can be found volunteering her face painting talents at Bristol Zoo when she's not cementing her reputation as Coalpit Heath’s cake maker extraordinaire. Known to have an opinion on everything she’s never happier than when sharing these with the good folk of Bristol!
