As someone who really enjoys a panto, it’s always exciting to get the occasional opportunity to watch one outside of the Christmas period, so I was very much looking forward to Regal Entertainments’ Easter Panto ‘The Wizard Of Oz’. It was a fun family day out, but it didn’t quite reach the same level of pantomime joy that their Christmas productions do.
For me, the choreography was a real standout in this show. Nazene Langfield’s choreography is punchy, fun, and well-executed by the professional dancers and the dancers from local dance schools. The dancers are always high-energy, and I couldn’t take my eyes off them! I loved the inclusion of a tap number, but I was disappointed to see that the tap sounds had been dubbed. The dancers could clearly tap well, so I have no idea why they didn’t just wear tap shoes. This was a shame as it ruined the magic and at times the moves made did not match up with the taps recorded.
The design elements throughout the show are generally strong. The costume and set design are great – the costumes are vibrant and high quality, and the set for the space given is quite impressive. The lighting design is nice, however at times the LED lights at the front of the stage are much brighter in comparison to the lighting on stage, making it harder to see the action. This was particularly evident in the finale.
The performance I watched did have quite a few technical hiccups – lights were brought up before scene changes had finished and sound cues were sometimes delayed. The biggest hiccup, however, was the white curtain that was used for projection. By the end of the show, this had got completely tangled, leaving a massive gap in the middle of the stage and therefore meaning we could still see all of the land of Oz whilst watching a video of Dorothy arriving back in Kansas (in which we could only now see Dorothy’s forehead due to the gap). Technical hiccups like this sometimes can’t be helped, but at times the show did lack technical coherence.
The performances throughout the show are good, although it was clear to see that some actors were becoming vocally tired. Mia Molloy led the company well as Dorothy, and she is accompanied by David Hearth (Scarecrow), Shea Farron (Tin Man), and Hannah Riley (Lion). The four have nice chemistry together and generally give good vocal performances. At times, the song choices and keys certainly fit the men better than the women, and it’s a shame that the keys of some songs weren’t changed to create a nicer sounding medium. The performers have good interactions with the audience, but their delivery can often be rushed. Jokes aren’t always given enough time to land, and sections like the ghost gag are almost too fast. Perhaps this is down to director Chantelle Joseph.
Katy McKenna as the Wicked Witch is definitely the standout performance of the show, however. Her vocals are strong, her character is brilliant, and she is truly evil. She’s a perfect pantomime villain! Unfortunately, a slightly weaker performer is the poor dog who is playing Toto. Throughout the show they look somewhat forced against their will and are often dragged across the stage. A true diva! Nevertheless, the cast do a great job at dealing with this, but perhaps just a toy would have sufficed.
Generally, the biggest flaw of this show however is its script and song choices – very few songs are not from Wicked, The Wiz, or the actual Wizard Of Oz. These, along with the very traditional plot (which is definitely lacking some pantomime silliness and twists), mean that the show quite often feels like a rip-off production of The Wizard Of Oz rather than a pantomime. Personally, the show could do with some more jokes and some more gags for the children – the musical dialogue and ghost gags in the second half are a hit, and it’s a shame we don’t get more moments like this throughout.
Whilst the second half of the pantomime certainly finds its feet, resulting in a responsive, satisfied audience, the first half of the show lacked pantomime magic and as a result lacked audience participation – at times my mum and I were the only ones booing and hissing etc. Nevertheless, the show does have some great highlights – one being the completely irrelevant but hilariously bonkers circus gag, which uses neon circus puppets and lots of black morph suits to create an entertaining watch that I have certainly never seen before in a panto.
Overall, The Wizard Of Oz at the Epstein Theatre is a great watch for families this Easter. It may not have as much panto magic as their Christmas pantomimes, but it’s a visually exciting, high-quality performance that I have now come to expect from Regal Entertainments.