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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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CTC hits it big again with “The Wizard of Oz”
Wednesday 27 November @ 10:40:30 |
 by Dwight Hobbes
If Children’s Theatre Company artistic director Peter Brosius’ feet don’t quite touch the floor, these days, it’s wholly understandable. Midway through the 2002-03 season, he has knocked the public out with a steamrolling one-two punch. Accordingly, Brosius has every right to be walking on air.
After opening the schedule in August, the hit show, “A Year With Frog And Toad,” has gone from its world premiere to a sold-out Off-Broadway run (Nov. 15 - Dec 1) at the New Victory Theatre in Times Square. The last show to launch in town and springboard to such success was the wildly popular “The Lion King,” going from the Historic Orpheum Theater to a record-breaking run at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre. Needless to say, the CTC brain trust is investigating the prospects of a Broadway run of “A Year With Frog And Toad” next spring.
Overlapping is the hot-selling “The Wizard of Oz,” packing crowds in like nobody’s business. The production exceeds CTC’s usual show-length of 90 minutes by roughly a half-hour, but you’ll hardly notice. From beginning, just about right up to the end, L. Frank Baum’s classic fantasy is brought to absolutely enchanting life.
As we follow the age-old story of Dorothy running from home to rescue her little doggie Toto from the mean old neighbor and winding up in a weird world of odd characters, there is not the slightest feeling of been-there, seen-that. Young veteran of the Children’s Theatre Company, Britta Ollman (“The Snow Queen,” “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”), is excellent in the lead role. Sacrilegious as it may seem, she gives up nothing to Judy Garland’s immortalized performance in the 1939 flick. Ollman sings with radiant clarity and artfully sidesteps formulaic pitfalls in which many young actors are trapped when they take this part on. Whether it was a matter of director Matthew Howe shrewdly guiding Ollman or sensibly staying out of her way, the result is a gifted actor playing a spirited, warm-hearted girl with true skill rather than resorting to terminally wide-eyed affectation. Howe who, at CTC, kept the lavish “Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas” intimately down to earth, and kept the fairly dark “Afternoon of the Elves” from being flat-out depressing, is due kudos here. He’s faithful to de riguer broad strokes of the character’s depiction, yet applies a fresh touch to the fine lines, especially Dean Holt’s engaging portrayal of The Scarecrow. There’s a slight lag with The Cowardly Lion’s second act solo (which should’ve been trimmed) and Marvette Knight is permitted to basically walk through the role of Auntie Em. Otherwise, Howe does a splendid job. Look for his spicing “The Munchkin’s Song” with a dash of R & B choreography.
Scenic designer Scott Bradley is a master craftsman. He provides the same magical artistry for dissimilar projects with one effort not so much as faintly resembling the other. For the world premiere of August Wilson’s “Seven Guitars” at the Goodman Theater (Chicago), Bradley gave the blues drama an earthy, urban backdrop as gritty as the action it held. His set for this frolicsome extravaganza is equally tailor-made, a gorgeous and versatile treat for the eye. Music director/conductor Victor Zupanc (“A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings,” “The Prince and the Pauper” at CTC) walked into the production with an advantage: the done-to-death songs from this show have stood up over time as infectious melodies with clever lyrics and are pretty hard to mess up. Zupanc’s being a world traveled virtuoso made it a veritable duck-shoot to enhance the tunes with brightly effective arrangements and turn the score into an aural tapestry. Dazzling costumes by Helen Huang (“Twelfth Night”/Oregon Shakespeare Festival, “The Daughter of the Regiment”/Boston Lyric) are put to their best effect in the panoramic parade of munchkins. All said, it’s a whole bunch of wonderful fun at which even the worst sourpuss can’t help but have a delightful time. For good measure, they’ve come up with the most adorable terrier imaginable to serve as Toto.
I conferred with the other critic at my house, a definitively opinionated 9-year-old, asking how she would describe the production. “It was exciting,” she said. Her beaming smile said a whole lot more. Put a few smiles to beaming around your own house (and don’t be surprised if one of them belongs to you). Go see “The Wizard of Oz” at Children’s Theatre Company.
Runs through Jan. 12 at Children’s Theatre Company, 2400 Third Ave., Mpls. Dates, tickets and times: 612-874-0500.
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