Review: The Wizard of Oz, UK Tour, at the Palace Theatre, Manchester

I think we can all agree, one of the most beloved stories is L.Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, published in 1900 and made part of popular culture forever from the 1939 MGM film, starring Judy Garland. It's also one of the most adapted stories you could think of, with spin offs being made left right and centre. Some being amazing, such as Wicked and The Wiz. Others... not so much. 

In 2011, a musical version of the original story graced the London Palladium, with additional material by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It starred Over The Rainbow (remember that?) winner Danielle Hope (Grease) as Dorothy, Michael Crawford as The Wizard, and Queen Hannah Waddingham as The Wicked Witch of the West. A new production of this Wizard of Oz graced Leicester's Curve for the 2022 Christmas season, then returned to the Palladium last summer. 

And now, it is touring across the UK, finding home for the next couple of weeks at Manchester's Palace Theatre. 

Confession time: I am not a massive fan of the film. I appreciate the charm, and the technical achievements. But I just did not like Dorothy as a character. (Just my opinion, pitchforks down please). But despite my misgivings, I was excited to see The Wizard of Oz on stage, and to see how it works. 

This Oz is, thankfully, not a carbon copy of the 1939 film; its take on Oz is a parallel of mid/Southern America, the Emerald City a parallel of New York City. 

We're taken there by a series of projections on the back of the stage; there's barely any big set pieces. The projections were pretty cool, especially the opening across Kansas during the Overture. However, if you're sitting up at the top like I was, you may get the top of the projection cut off. And beware of falling into the trap I fell into during Merry Old Land of Oz; trying to spot all the pop culture references and tributes to the original film rather than focusing on what the actors are doing... 

This has big names in its cast, but I want to start praising someone unexpected: Abigail Matthews as Toto. 

Toto is played in this production by a puppet, controlled by Matthews; the odd thing was, I didn't see Matthews on stage at all. Oh you knew she was there. But from the minute she ran on stage, the way she mastered the puppet was masterful. She brought Toto to life - that is the magic of puppetry. 

Aviva Tulley played the innocent Dorothy, brave, and ready for the adventure. And loyal to her friends: Benjamin Yates as the Scarecrow, JLS's Aston Merrygold as the Tin Man, and Salford's own Jason Manford (Jack & the Beanstalk) as the Cowardly Lion, reprising his performance from the London run. An interesting casting choice on paper, but oh boy did it work. He managed to pay tribute to Bert Lahr, while making the Lion his own. And when he forgot his line (he did!) - hilarious! Only he could have made walking off stage yelling "What's my God damn line" so funny - I admire Yates and Merrygold for holding it together because the audience certainly did not. 

Finally, everyone loves a good villain, and is there a more iconic villain than the Wicked Witch of the West? 

Later on in the tour, she will be played by Craig Revel Horwood (Annie), but in Manchester, she is being played by The Vivienne, the first ever winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK (a show I love). Again, an interesting choice on paper, but oh my word did it work. This is a part you HAVE to go over the top with. You can be camp evil with it - she's in a way, a more menacing panto villain. In short, she is the perfect part for a drag queen to play. Viv played her brilliantly. You could tell she was having the best time with it. 

The Wizard of Oz is a perfect show for people of all ages - young and old, everyone at some point has wished for some great adventure, and to escape the grey of their regular lives. Oz provides a little bit of technicolour joy - and will hopefully make you skip down the streets of Manchester, painting them yellow. 

The Wizard of Oz runs at the Palace Theatre, Manchester until 5th May, then continues its tour across the country.