We're off to see 'Wizard'
By Sally Carpenter sallyc@theacorn.com

If you've seen 1939's "The Wizard of Oz," then you've seen the latest production at Camarillo Community Theater which is a carbon copy of the classic film. Much of the dialogue, the costumes and the songs are taken straight from the movie. In fact, you'll hear snippets from the soundtrack throughout the play as background music.

The good side of this is that the story is familiar to anyone over age 3. I found myself chanting "lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" along with the actors. I'm surprised the audience didn't start singing along with the well-known ditties by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg such as "Over the Rainbow," "We're Off to See the Wizard," and "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead."

Kids will adore the imaginative Oz creatures, the talking trees, jitterbugs, flying monkeys and the lovable munchkins, all played by an ensemble of colorfully dressed children age 5 and up. The youths are all troupers, right in step with their dancing and spot-on with their lines.

Oz is depicted by a vividly colored backdrop. Most of the special effects are imaginative and effective, such as using black-clad twirling dancers to represent the tornado as they spin around the farmhouse, the Good Witch appearing over the field of poppies, the clouds parting to reveal the Emerald City and the smoke that accompanies the Wicked Witch of the West.

The actors are energetic and keep their lines going at a rapid-fire pace. I especially liked Patrick Beckstead as the loose-limbed scarecrow who stumbles about-and that's a compliment-as a boneless bag of hay.

The program states that Chris Calhoun (the Lion) is only 15, which I find hard to believe. He pounces around the stage with a sense of fun and a strong presence.

Brian Pletcher plays his two characters of Uncle Henry and the Emerald City Guard so differently that I didn't recognize him in the roles.

What of Annie Block-Weiss in the challenging role of Dorothy? She's the right age for the character, more so than the adolescent Judy Garland. In the opening scenes she comes across as too whiny, but settles into the role when she gets to Oz. She handles the sometimes stage-shy dog playing Toto without missing a beat.

Since the play tried hard to duplicate the movie, the audience was probably expecting Block-Weiss to be another Garland. That's a mighty high standard to shoot for, and Block-Weiss' singing voice needs time and experience to match Garland's definitive take on "Over the Rainbow."

I applaud the production for using a real dog instead of a toy. The 4year-old dog playing Toto provided some humorous moments, such as "singing" along with the music at times and finding himself lost in the rows of spectators. The bad side of attempting to re

produce a movie on stage is that some of the actors resort to merely mimicking their film counterparts instead of creating their own characters. Several of the actors simply copied the voices and gestures used in the film. At times the production seemed like "Rocky Horror Picture Show," with fans dressed as their favorite characters, acting out the scenes as the movie plays on the big screen. Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, but only a good imitation.

Kathi Janca-Gravino didn't seem threatening enough in Kansas as Almyra Gultch and tried too hard to channel Margaret Hamilton in her Wicked Witch scenes. I would have like JancaGravino to have created her own evil persona.

The CCT stage lacked the technical expertise to pull off such a complex and effects-heavy show with a multitude of settings. The audience sat in the dark too many times through long and noisy scene changes which slowed down the show's momentum, especially in Act 2.

For all the special effects that worked, some did not. In the poppy field, the characters say "it's snowing," but there's no snow. Couldn't we have just a few flakes drop from the ceiling? When the characters walk through the Haunted Forest, the stage lights should be dimmed for a spooky effect.

The projection equipment needed for some of the effects malfunctioned during the show I saw. The Wizard's head is projected on a screen when he "talks" to the characters, but during these scenes the screen either went blank or the wrong image appeared. Hopefully this problem will be fixed by the next performance.

During the tornado scene, black-and-white scenes from the actual film flashed on stage. I found this distracting and unnecessary.

The show will entertain young children and "Oz" fans who would love to see their favorite film brought to life. Adults will enjoy the well-known songs and jokes as long as they're patient with the scene changes. Those who want an "Oz" based directly from the L. Frank Baum's books or to see an original spin on the characters will need to look elsewhere.

The production continues on weekends through Nov. 19, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. The theatre is at 330 Skyway Drive, Camarillo, inside the airport. For more information and tickets, call the box office at (805) 388-5716.