Review: The Wizard of Oz by San Pedro Playhouse
by Michael Meigs

 

The Wizard of Oz production now playing at the venerable San Pedro Playhouse in San Antonio vividly presents the story told by the 1939 MGM film and adds clever, striking production values throughout. It's a huge show -- a cast of twenty-seven, including furry four-legged Dolly Ebarra in the role of Toto -- and it mobilizes a host of staff members, supporters, and volunteers. Especially spectacular are the visuals provided by Jimmy Moore's imaginative set, the bright colors of Rachael Lorenzetti's costumes along with Mackenzie Mulligan's lighting, and Tanesha Payne's choreography.

 

The mid-2023 course correction by the (then) Public Theatre held open this summer slot for a "Summer Family Musical TBA." This production delivers handsomely on that promise, and it's hardly surprising that the company targeted the Wizard to help attract theatre goers reluctant to place rears on seats after the ravages of COVID, a successful emergency finance campaign, and changes in structure, focus, and staff.

 

After all, The Wizard of Oz is a perpetual favorite accessible to all ages, and John Kane's 2008 rework for the Royal Shakespeare Company appears to have been recently made available to regional and community theatres, even though it's still touring the U.S., the UK, and Australia. The (now) San Pedro Playhouse production is the eighth staging in Central Texas since 2022. Dorothy has recently ridden the whirlwind in Bryan, San Marcos, Georgetown, Killeen, Austin's SummerStock, Fredericksburg, and Lago Vista.

 

Not one of those other productions did I see, but I can confirm that this one has a clearly presented artistic vision. Director Jenny Lavery told Jill Ripa of San Antonio Broadway World, "This concept of 'there’s no place like home' feels like this longing for belonging and finding your people. Finding your community and feeling at home within yourself." In that connection, Lavery's casting of Lucero García in the beloved Judy-Garland-white-bread role of lonely Dorothy is a deft touch, calling upon a talented Hispanic-heritage singer and performer to bring the story home from Kansas to San Antonio.

 

 

Any stage version of this story faces comparison with the film's memorable character portrayals and remarkable Technicolor styling. For example, Kayla Hernandez Friend's Elvira Gulch/Wicked Witch is a virtual echo of Margaret Hamilton's deliciously malevolent character, including especially that shrieking laugh. Isidro Medina delivers the cowardly Lion with a lot of Bert Lahr's cadences but mostly sans the distinctive New York accent. David Gonima as Scarecrow is astonishingly rubber-jointed and cheerful, outdoing Ray Bolger. Brian Hodges as Tin Man has Jack Haley's tender affability—so much so that in the finale, when he confesses that his new "heart" is breaking, there's an audible sigh from across the audience.

 

Others are quite unlike the film. Lara Wright as Professor Marvel/the Wizard is mischievous and lively where Frank Morgan was deceptive but kindly. And Taylor James sweeps into roles unrelated in the film, Aunt Em and Glenda the Good, convincingly portraying the opposites of worried farmwife and benevolent, be-bubbled angel of the Munchkins. The young dancer/performers appearing as Munchkins have none of the grotesquerie of those in the film. Young TJ Cate as their mayor is a particularly sunny presence.

 

The San Antono production pays due homage to the cinematic shift from black-and-white to full color. The stage colors are consistently hotter than those in the film, further contrasted by the striking use of blackouts. Lavery's staging of the tornado scene is so darkly eerie and full of motion that it evoked spontaneous applause once the lights came up upon Munchkin land. The second act includes a delicious, lengthy performance of "The Jitterbug," omitted from the film's final cut, a wild number performed in spooky light with rambunctious luminescent human-size jitterbugs whose irresistible dancing drives our protagonists into apathetic fatigue. 

 

The principal story line is completely intact, but it's amplified with touches, some probably instituted in the 2008 Kane production and others certainly credited to Lavery and friends. Character songs delivered by Dorothy's companions have sung introductions not used in the film; the scarecrow is serenaded by a cackling trio of bulky crows who also serve as a chorus; the apple trees that rebuke the traveling friends are shapely, snippy, and female rather than gnarly old trunks with male faces.

 

We noted some minor disruptions to the magic. Sightlines in the gently sloped Russell Hill Rogers theatre made it almost impossible to see the legs with ruby slippers protruding from beneath the farmhouse dropped by the tornado. That's a difficult one to solve, but perhaps a dedicated spotlight would have helped. For those of us in the forward rows, sound levels were very high, both the vocals and the recorded synth music; since almost all the music is familiar, I suspect the recorded track could have been lowered considerably.

 

 

Last but most of concern was the seemingly interminable pause between Dorothy's "There's no place like home" and the sight of Uncle Henry discovering her unconscious in the farmyard. Of course, key performers were forced backstage into a mad rush of costume change and makeup removal; we all knew that. Meanwhile, as we waited expectantly, the music continued hectic and the onstage picture was static, with lights flickering against the rustic wooden slats lowered to mask the deepstage set. This interval—a blank space rather than an empty space—would have benefited from projections, even blurry or impressionistic ones, of characters or moments from the script. The use of the film's tornado montage technique would have kept the expectant opening-night audience on the edges of their seats.

 

EXTRA

Click to view the San Pedro Playhouse's ample program for The Wizard of Oz.

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The Wizard of Oz
by based on the eMGM film of the book
San Pedro Playhouse

July 12 - August 4, 2024

Russell Hill Rogers Theatre, San Pedro Playhouse

Run time: Approximately two hours and thirty minutes with one 15-minute intermission.

Tickets for The Wizard of Oz Click here.

• Single Ticket Prices with fees included for Russell Hill Rogers Theater are $50 (Adult), $35 (Military/Student/Older Adults 60+, First-Responders), and $20 (Child Under 12) are available online at www.sanpedroplayhouse.org or by phone at (210) 733-7258, for additional information about 20% OFF with a group sales of 8 or more, email boxoffice@thepublicsa.org. The Russell Hill Rogers Theater is wheelchair accessible.

• Flex Passes for three shows are available. These passes offer a 30% discount on regular adult tickets. Youth Passes are also available. To purchase or learn more about passes, visit www.sanpedroplayhouse.org.

 

The 2023-24 Welcome Home Season is proudly sponsored by Robert K. Brown and Dennis B. Karbach. The Wizard of Oz is generously supported by Whataburger.

 

Events in Celebration of The Wizard of Oz

• Champagne Opening Night — Friday, July 12, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.

• Pride Night — Saturday, July 13, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. 

• Whataburger Education Night & ASL Performance — Friday, August 2, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. 

• ASL Performance — Sunday, August 4, 2024 at 2 p.m.