New Castle has a winner in ‘Oz’

Strong direction, an
excellent cast and
extravagant costumes are among the positives.

By MILAN PAURICH

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — In the New Castle Playhouse production of “The Wizard of Oz” that opened to a packed house Friday night, director Michael Cavalier instinctively knows what the audience wants and rises to the challenge.

Cavalier and his groaning board of a cast — I counted nearly 80 featured performers in the show’s playbill — and backstage crew serve up all of the “big” moments everyone remembers from the film in a swiftly paced, expeditious fashion. While there were some minor technical glitches opening night (perfectly understandable in a show of this size and magnitude), Cavalier’s “Wizard of Oz” was mostly running (or is that “flying”?) on all cylinders.

The one major change from the original “Oz” is a slight tweaking of The Wicked Witch of the West (Lynn Nelson-Rafferty). Perhaps as a concession to politically correct sensibilities — or to fans of the long-running Broadway musical “Wicked” — Nelson-Rafferty is more campy than truly menacing. Having Elphaba address Good Witch Glinda (Kristen Polomascanik who also plays Aunt Em) as “girlfriend” might have seemed like a clever idea at the time, but plays more like an exchange between Whoopi Goldberg and Elizabeth Hasselbeck on “The View” than anything from the merry old land of Oz. Elphaba’s scaly green makeup and broomstick-riding flying effects (the latter courtesy of Moulton Ferguson, Jr. and Paul Angelucci) are both aces, however.

I also loved Janice Hanna’s extravagantly sumptuous costume design (although Anthony Geramita’s Cowardly Lion looks more like one of the giant pussies from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” than “Oz”’s lily-livered Lion) and the show’s elaborate, eye-popping sets. Considering the relatively diminutive size of the NCP’s stage, it’s a testament to Cavalier’s directing skills that everything — and everyone — manages to fit so cozily within the narrow proscenium arch. Music director Kevin Danielson, conductor Nick Yoho and a 13-member orchestra truly rise to the occasion, delivering seamless and soaring musical accompaniment to Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg’s immortal songs (“Over the Rainbow,” ‘Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead,” “We’re Off to See the Wizard,” et al).

The cast is mostly spot-on. Geramita, Ben Solomon and Coy Price are terrific as the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man; Nelson-Rafferty and Polomascanik make wonderfully complementary witches; and in the dual roles of Professor Marvel and the Wizard, Phillip Clark, Jr. does an amusing imitation of Frank Morgan from the 1939 movie version.

Although the Munchkins are no longer played by true little people, the 26 area schoolchildren populating Munchkinland more than take up the slack. As the Munchkin Mayor, Laurel Elementary third-grader Bricen Mayberry comes dangerously close to upstaging the more seasoned grown-up members of the ensemble.

But the real dazzler of the evening is Cairn Terrier Brutus who delivers one of the most truly unforgettable performances I’ve seen on a local stage in years as Dorothy’s loyal pooch, Toto. Bravo, Brutus!

Leah Zahner is technically proficient as Dorothy, but she’s simply too mature for the role. The fact that Zahner and Polomascanik seem so close in age makes the scenes between Dorothy and Aunt Em a tad peculiar. Zahner does have a lovely singing voice, though, even if her “Over the Rainbow” pales somewhat in comparison with the Garland or Katharine McPhee versions. Yet that’s a small complaint in a “Wizard of Oz” that otherwise manages to get just about everything right.