Version 1
Wizard of OZ (The) (Vers Lloyd Webber) (2011-03-Palladium Theatre-London)
Type de série: OriginalThéâtre: Palladium Theatre (Londres - Angleterre) Durée : 1 an 6 mois Nombre : Première Preview : lundi 07 février 2011Première : mardi 01 mars 2011Dernière : dimanche 02 septembre 2012Mise en scène : Jeremy Sams • Chorégraphie : Arlene Phillips • Producteur : Avec : Dorothy Gale ... Danielle Hope / Wicked Witch & Ms. Gultch ... Hannah Waddingham / The Wizard & Professor Marvel ... Michael Crawford / Glinda ... Emily Tierney / Scarecrow/Hunk ... Paul Keating / Tin Man/Hickory ... Edward Baker-Duly / Cowardly Lion/Zeke ... David Ganly / Auntie Em ... Helen Walsh / Uncle Henry ... Stephen Scott / Munchkin Mayor ... ZephCommentaires : With previews from 7th February, the original Dorothy was Danielle Hope, with Sophie Evans playing certain performances. The role of Dorothy was cast through the 2010 reality television show “Over the Rainbow”, in which Danielle Hope won and Sophie Evans was the runner-up.Commentaires longs: This was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 18th musical, but his first West End show reunited with Tim Rice for more than 30 years. It opened to a £10 million advance. During the run Hannah Waddingham was replaced by Marianne Benedict after six months, and in February 2012 Sophie Evans took over as the full-time Dorothy, and Michael Crawford was replaced with Russell Grant. The production celebrated its 500th performance on 9 May 2012. Des O’Connor took over as The Wizard on May 22nd 2012.
Reception
Opening night reviews were mixed but generally praised the designs, the special effects and several cast members, especially Waddingham. The Telegraph reviewer, Charles Spencer, rated the production three out of five stars, writing: "Jeremy Sams’s production pulls out all the stops, with ingenious designs by Robert Jones that skilfully conjure up both the sepia world of Kansas and the lurid colours of Oz. Dorothy’s flight to the enchanted land is thrillingly caught with the help of film effects that wouldn’t look out of place on Dr Who and the story is told with clarity and pace", but added that Hope "offers a thoroughly competent rather than an inspired performance" that "lacks the heart-catching vulnerability of the young Judy Garland".
Paul Taylor of The Independent gave the show four out of five stars, commenting: "Jeremy Sams's production is a marvel of beguiling narrative fluency and, with Robert Jones's superb designs, of endlessly witty and spectacular visual invention – from the digitally-enhanced hurricane transition to Oz to the skeletally twisted Gothic palace of the Wicked Witch and her totalitarian, helmeted guards."
Henry Hitchings of the London Evening Standard also gave the show four out of five stars, praising Jones's "lavish costumes and lovingly conceived sets. ... The story is lucid and well-paced, though the technological wizardry occasionally obscures its inherent magic. ... Danielle Hope ... makes a winning impression. Her performance combines innocence with easy charm, and her voice soars."
Although Michael Billington, the reviewer at The Guardian, felt "blitzkrieged rather than charmed", he gave the production three stars out of five, writing:
"The star of the show is undoubtedly the set and costume designer, Robert Jones. The Kansas cyclone that whisks Dorothy into a dreamworld is evoked through vorticist projections (the work of Jon Driscoll) that betoken chaos in the cosmos. The Yellow Brick Road is on a tilted revolve from inside which poppyfields and labyrinthine forest emerge. The Emerald City is full of steeply inclined walls suggesting a drunkard's vision of the Chrysler Building lobby. And the Wicked Witch of the West inhabits a rotating dungeon that might be a Piranesi nightmare. ... Of course, there are the songs; it's good to be reminded of such classics as "Over The Rainbow", "We're Off To See The Wizard", and "Follow The Yellow Brick Road". The additions by Lloyd Webber and Rice are also perfectly acceptable. Dorothy is given a good plaintive opening number, and Red Shoes Blues, sung by the Wicked Witch, has a pounding intensity."
Writing in the Daily Mail, Quentin Letts felt that "the story lacks the emotive motor of a love affair" and that the "dramatic buzz" is "not much better than you'd find at a decent pantomime". The Oxford Times reviewed the production during Evans's first week (in May 2011) replacing the vacationing Hope, calling the show "hugely enjoyable" and commenting of Evans: "Such is her success in the role that it would be hard to imagine anyone could consider they were getting second-best."Presse : "It's somewhat lacking in humanity. I came out feeling blitzkrieged rather than charmed...the paradox of the evening is that it suffers the same dilemma as the Tin Man: it might have been so much more if it only had a heart."
Michael Billington for The Guardian
"Exhilarating new production...Jeremy Sams's production is a marvel of beguiling narrative fluency and, with Richard Jones's superb designs, of endlessly witty and spectacular visual invention."
Paul Taylor for The Independent
"The story is lucid and well-paced, though the technological wizardry occasionally obscures its inherent magic...This is a family musical with a gorgeous sense of spectacle, as well as being a polished essay in escapism."
Henry Hitchings for The Evening Standard
"The dramatic buzz here is not much better than you’d find at a decent pantomime."
Quentin Letts for The Daily Mail
"While there is a good deal to recommend about this much-anticipated production...I could not help but imagine director Jeremy Sams himself knocking on the doors of Emerald City to ask the great Oz what ingredients would turn his okay show into a great one. How about a big injection of energy and a dose of feeling..."
Lisa Martland for The Stage
"One leaves the theatre humming the tunes and admiring the spectacle. But this finally strikes me as a soullessly efficient production rather than an inspired re-invention of The Wizard of Oz."
Charles Spencer for The Daily Telegraph
The Wizard of Oz was first turned into a musical extravaganza by Baum himself. A loose adaptation of his 1900 novel (there is no Wicked Witch or Toto, and there are some new characters), it first played in Chicago in 1902 and was a success on Broadway the following year. It then toured for nine years. The 1939 film adaptation bore a closer resemblance to the storyline of Baum's original novel than most previous versions. It was a strong success, winning the Academy Awards for best song and best score, and continues to be broadcast perennially.
Among the many musical theatre adaptations of The Wizard of Oz, two previous ones have used the songs from the film. In 1945, the St. Louis Municipal Opera (MUNY) created a version with a script adapted by Frank Gabrielson from the novel, but it is influenced in some respects by the motion picture screenplay. It uses most of the songs from the film. This was followed, in 1987, by a Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) adaptation designed to more closely recreate the film version. The book by John Kane closely follows the film's screenplay, and it and uses nearly all of the film's music. Both the MUNY and RSC adaptations were successes and have been revived numerous times in the U.S. and UK.
The Wizard of Oz is Andrew Lloyd Webber's 18th musical. Tim Rice first collaborated with Lloyd Webber in 1965, together writing The Likes of Us. Their next piece was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, followed by two more concept albums that became hit musicals, Jesus Christ Superstar (1971) and Evita (1978). Except for a special collaboration for Queen Elizabeth's 60th birthday celebration, the musical Cricket in 1986, after Evita, each man turned to other collaborators to produce further well-known musical theatre works.
The Wizard of Oz was Rice and Lloyd Webber's first production together in the West End in over three decades. To create the new musical, Lloyd Webber and director Jeremy Sams adapted the 1939 film's screenplay, and Rice and Lloyd Webber added several new songs to the film's score. In July 2010, Lloyd Webber told the Daily Mail, "The fact is that The Wizard of Oz has never really worked in the theatre. The film has one or two holes where in the theatre you need a song. For example, there's nothing for either of the two witches to sing." "Tim and I are doing quite a specific thing, because we know what's missing."
Productions
After previews beginning 7 February, the musical opened in the West End, at the London Palladium, on 1 March 2011. The role of Dorothy was originally played by Danielle Hope, who was selected through the reality television show Over the Rainbow, and the title role of the Wizard was created by Michael Crawford. Over the Rainbow runner-up Sophie Evans performed the role of Dorothy on Tuesday evenings and when Hope was ill or on holiday. Hannah Waddingham originated the role of the Wicked Witch of the West leaving the cast on September 2011, when her understudy, Marianne Benedict assumed the role. Hope and Crawford left the production on 5 February 2012. Evans replaced Hope in the role of Dorothy full-time beginning 7 February 2012, and Russell Grant took over as The Wizard a week later, for 14-weeks. Des O'Connor played The Wizard from May 2012 until the production closed.
The musical was produced by Lloyd Webber and Bill Kenwright, with direction by Jeremy Sams, choreography by Arlene Phillips and sets and costumes by Robert Jones. It took in pre-opening sales of £10 million. The production celebrated its 500th performance on 9 May 2012 and closed on 2 September 2012.
An autumn 2012 reality TV show, Over the Rainbow, hosted by Daryn Jones, searched for a Canadian girl to play the role of Dorothy in a forthcoming Toronto staging by Mirvish Productions. On 5 November 2012, viewers chose Danielle Wade, a 20-year-old University of Windsor acting major, to play the role of Dorothy, with Stephanie La Rochelle as 1st runner up. The production premiered on 20 December 2012 at the Ed Mirvish Theatre with an official opening night on 13 January 2013. The cast also includes Cedric Smith as Professor Marvel/the Wizard, Lisa Horner as Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West, Mike Jackson as the Hickory/Tin Man, Lee MacDougall as the Zeke/Cowardly Lion, Jamie McKnight as Hunk/the Scarecrow and Robin Evan Willis as Glinda. The production is then expected to begin touring North America in autumn 2013 with the original Canadian cast.
ost of the musical's songs are taken from the 1939 film and were written by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg. New numbers written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice include a song for Professor Marvel ("The Wonders of the World") and the Wicked Witch of the West ("Red Shoes Blues"), two songs for the Wizard ("Bring Me the Broomstick" and "Farewell to Oz") and another song for Dorothy ("Nobody Understands Me"). A song featured in the film but omitted in the musical is "If I Were King of the Forest."[33][34]
Act I
"Overture" – Orchestra and Ensemble
"Nobody Understands Me"* – Dorothy, Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, Hunk, Hickory, Zeke and Miss Gulch
"Over the Rainbow" – Dorothy
"The Wonders of the World"* – Professor Marvel
"The Twister" – Orchestra
Munchkinland Sequence: "Come Out, Come Out ... Ding! Dong! The Witch is Dead ... We Welcome You to Munchkinland" – Glinda, Dorothy and Munchkins
"Follow the Yellow Brick Road" – Glinda, Dorothy and Munchkins
"If I Only Had a Brain" – Scarecrow and Dorothy
"We're Off to See the Wizard" – Dorothy and Scarecrow
"If I Only Had a Heart" – Tin Man
"If I Only Had the Nerve" – Lion
"Optimistic Voices" – Dorothy, Lion, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Ensemble
"The Merry Old Land of Oz" – Company
"Bring Me the Broomstick"* – The Wizard
Act II
Entr'acte – Orchestra
"We Went to See the Wizard"** – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion
"March of the Winkies" – Ensemble
"Red Shoes Blues"* – Wicked Witch of the West and Winkies
"Over the Rainbow" (reprise)** – Dorothy
"If We Only Had a Plan"** – Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow
"March of the Winkies" (reprise) – Ensemble, Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion
"Hail – Hail! The Witch is Dead" – Ensemble
"You Went to See the Wizard"** – The Wizard
"Farewell to Oz"* – The Wizard
"Already Home"* – Glinda, Dorothy and Ensemble
Finale – Dorothy and Company
*denotes new song by Rice and Lloyd Webber.
**denotes new lyric by Rice.
Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Wizard of OZ (The) (Vers Lloyd Webber)
Version 1
Wizard of OZ (The) (Vers Lloyd Webber) (2011-03-Palladium Theatre-London)
Type de série: OriginalThéâtre: Palladium Theatre (Londres - Angleterre) Durée : 1 an 6 mois Nombre : Première Preview : lundi 07 février 2011Première : mardi 01 mars 2011Dernière : dimanche 02 septembre 2012Mise en scène : Jeremy Sams • Chorégraphie : Arlene Phillips • Producteur : Avec : Dorothy Gale ... Danielle Hope / Wicked Witch & Ms. Gultch ... Hannah Waddingham / The Wizard & Professor Marvel ... Michael Crawford / Glinda ... Emily Tierney / Scarecrow/Hunk ... Paul Keating / Tin Man/Hickory ... Edward Baker-Duly / Cowardly Lion/Zeke ... David Ganly / Auntie Em ... Helen Walsh / Uncle Henry ... Stephen Scott / Munchkin Mayor ... ZephCommentaires : With previews from 7th February, the original Dorothy was Danielle Hope, with Sophie Evans playing certain performances. The role of Dorothy was cast through the 2010 reality television show “Over the Rainbow”, in which Danielle Hope won and Sophie Evans was the runner-up.Commentaires longs: This was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 18th musical, but his first West End show reunited with Tim Rice for more than 30 years. It opened to a £10 million advance. During the run Hannah Waddingham was replaced by Marianne Benedict after six months, and in February 2012 Sophie Evans took over as the full-time Dorothy, and Michael Crawford was replaced with Russell Grant. The production celebrated its 500th performance on 9 May 2012. Des O’Connor took over as The Wizard on May 22nd 2012.
Reception
Opening night reviews were mixed but generally praised the designs, the special effects and several cast members, especially Waddingham. The Telegraph reviewer, Charles Spencer, rated the production three out of five stars, writing: "Jeremy Sams’s production pulls out all the stops, with ingenious designs by Robert Jones that skilfully conjure up both the sepia world of Kansas and the lurid colours of Oz. Dorothy’s flight to the enchanted land is thrillingly caught with the help of film effects that wouldn’t look out of place on Dr Who and the story is told with clarity and pace", but added that Hope "offers a thoroughly competent rather than an inspired performance" that "lacks the heart-catching vulnerability of the young Judy Garland".
Paul Taylor of The Independent gave the show four out of five stars, commenting: "Jeremy Sams's production is a marvel of beguiling narrative fluency and, with Robert Jones's superb designs, of endlessly witty and spectacular visual invention – from the digitally-enhanced hurricane transition to Oz to the skeletally twisted Gothic palace of the Wicked Witch and her totalitarian, helmeted guards."
Henry Hitchings of the London Evening Standard also gave the show four out of five stars, praising Jones's "lavish costumes and lovingly conceived sets. ... The story is lucid and well-paced, though the technological wizardry occasionally obscures its inherent magic. ... Danielle Hope ... makes a winning impression. Her performance combines innocence with easy charm, and her voice soars."
Although Michael Billington, the reviewer at The Guardian, felt "blitzkrieged rather than charmed", he gave the production three stars out of five, writing:
"The star of the show is undoubtedly the set and costume designer, Robert Jones. The Kansas cyclone that whisks Dorothy into a dreamworld is evoked through vorticist projections (the work of Jon Driscoll) that betoken chaos in the cosmos. The Yellow Brick Road is on a tilted revolve from inside which poppyfields and labyrinthine forest emerge. The Emerald City is full of steeply inclined walls suggesting a drunkard's vision of the Chrysler Building lobby. And the Wicked Witch of the West inhabits a rotating dungeon that might be a Piranesi nightmare. ... Of course, there are the songs; it's good to be reminded of such classics as "Over The Rainbow", "We're Off To See The Wizard", and "Follow The Yellow Brick Road". The additions by Lloyd Webber and Rice are also perfectly acceptable. Dorothy is given a good plaintive opening number, and Red Shoes Blues, sung by the Wicked Witch, has a pounding intensity."
Writing in the Daily Mail, Quentin Letts felt that "the story lacks the emotive motor of a love affair" and that the "dramatic buzz" is "not much better than you'd find at a decent pantomime". The Oxford Times reviewed the production during Evans's first week (in May 2011) replacing the vacationing Hope, calling the show "hugely enjoyable" and commenting of Evans: "Such is her success in the role that it would be hard to imagine anyone could consider they were getting second-best."Presse : "It's somewhat lacking in humanity. I came out feeling blitzkrieged rather than charmed...the paradox of the evening is that it suffers the same dilemma as the Tin Man: it might have been so much more if it only had a heart."
Michael Billington for The Guardian
"Exhilarating new production...Jeremy Sams's production is a marvel of beguiling narrative fluency and, with Richard Jones's superb designs, of endlessly witty and spectacular visual invention."
Paul Taylor for The Independent
"The story is lucid and well-paced, though the technological wizardry occasionally obscures its inherent magic...This is a family musical with a gorgeous sense of spectacle, as well as being a polished essay in escapism."
Henry Hitchings for The Evening Standard
"The dramatic buzz here is not much better than you’d find at a decent pantomime."
Quentin Letts for The Daily Mail
"While there is a good deal to recommend about this much-anticipated production...I could not help but imagine director Jeremy Sams himself knocking on the doors of Emerald City to ask the great Oz what ingredients would turn his okay show into a great one. How about a big injection of energy and a dose of feeling..."
Lisa Martland for The Stage
"One leaves the theatre humming the tunes and admiring the spectacle. But this finally strikes me as a soullessly efficient production rather than an inspired re-invention of The Wizard of Oz."
Charles Spencer for The Daily Telegraph
Version 2
Wizard of OZ (The) (Vers Lloyd Webber) (2013-01-Ed Mirvish Theatre-Toronto)
Type de série: RevivalThéâtre: Ed Mirvish Theatre (Toronto - Canada) Durée : 4 mois 2 semaines Nombre : Première Preview : jeudi 20 décembre 2012Première : dimanche 13 janvier 2013Dernière : dimanche 02 juin 2013Mise en scène : Jeremy Sams • Chorégraphie : Arlene Phillips • Producteur : Avec : Dorothy Gale ... Danielle Wade / The Wizard & Professor Marvel ... Cedric Smith / Wicked Witch of the West & Miss Gultch ... Lisa Horner / Scarecrow & Hunk ... Jamie McKnight / Tin Man & Hickory ... Mike Jackson / Cowardly Lion & Zeke ... Lee MacDougall / Glinda ... Robin Evan Willis / Uncle Henry ... Larry Mannell / Aunt Em ... Charlotte Moore / Ensemble ... Jordan Bell
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