The Wiz (WYP, 27/06/11)

The last WYP show we've got booked for this season, The Wiz was a phenomenally upbeat way to start the summer. It was incredibly infectious both in getting my toe tapping and in making in laugh a whole heap, I came out grinning from ear to ear. I enjoyed the flop movie version, which starred Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, and so I was eager to see the show live on stage. This co-production by WYP and Birmingham Repertory Theatre completely blew the movie out of the water. 

Opening in contemporary Leeds, Dorothy is a young teen who is more interested in her mobile phone than communicating with her Aunt Em. A freak storm takes her off to Oz where she meets... well everyone knows the basic story of The Wizard of Oz, but The Wiz adds a fresh sound featuring an all black cast (aside from some of the ensemble) alongside a grungy, New York style Oz. Setting Dorothy's hometown in Leeds makes for some pretty funny revised dialogue, and the Wiz cannot fathom why the young girl would want to go back there... and then it's later revealed he's from Bradford! 

Wayne Robinson's floppy scarecrow showed off an amazing voice, and Horace Oliver was funny as the Tinman, while Clive Rowe's Lion was cuddly and a big ole Mummy's boy. The sets and costumes were all top notch and the story zipped along the yellow brick road at a fair rate of knots, song after song with barely time to pause for thought, but that's to the show's credit and really added to the energy of the whole thing. 

The songs in this production ran as follows:

Act 1

1. The Feeling We Once Had – Aunt Em
2. Tornado Dance – Company
3. He's the Wizard – Addaperle, Dorothy and Munchkins
4. Soon as I Get Home – Dorothy
5. I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday – Scarecrow, Crows and Dorothy
6. Ease on Down the Road – Dorothy and Scarecrow
7. Slide Some Oil to Me – Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man
8. Mean Ole Lion – Lion
9. Be a Lion – Dorothy and Lion
10. So You Wanted to Meet the Wizard – The Wiz and Ensemble

Act 2

1. No Bad News – Evilene and Ensemble
2. If I Could Feel – Tinman and Ensemble
3. Funky Monkeys – Monkeys
4. Brand New Day – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, and Ensemble
5. Y'all Got It! –The Wiz and Ensemble
6. Believe in Yourself – Glinda and Ensemble
7. Home – Dorothy

Each of the character's songs had amusing choreography, with great work by the busy ensemble as crows, munchkins, or stylish citizens of Oz, while the best numbers were the impossibly danceable Ease on Down the Road and the glorious Brand New Day. I find it hard to find fault with this show as produced and I am not convinced that Andrew Lloyd Webber's recent revival of the 'regular' version of the story could be any better.