The Wizard of Oz - Sheffield Crucible

This production makes the London ALW revival look like a masterpiece, honestly. Oh, Toto turned into a yellow straw puppet when they landed in Oz... how could i forget! I’ve always preffered The Wiz as a stage version of the WOZ.

In the book the slippers are white, the film turned them red as they looked better on camera.

Saw this yesterday. A rather unplanned trip, as travel problems meant I decided to overnight in Sheffield.

On the plus side, picked up a £15 second row ticket (way around the side) which either wasn't there (or was more expensive) when I checked the previous day. I'd estimate the theatre was just over two thirds full.

Not the best audience. The children (not many) were well-behaved, but the adults enjoyed chatting during the show. There was a young lady in with a medical condition in the middle of the stalls, who danced about as much as is physically possible without standing up. Glad she was enjoying it, think she had the most fun there.

I heard one chap sat behind me say that he didn't know it was going to be a musical before he came. Really, the Crucible should do a better job of making this clear <end sarcasm>.

Start time 7:15pm (actually 7:20pm). Finish time 10pm, so running quite a bit longer than the estimate. Bear that in mind if you want to make a train. It does make the show seem even longer than it really is.

There are some great moments and memorable songs, but there was just a bit of sparkle lacking. It's quite a simple production, so things like the yellow brick road are done using yellow lighting. A few fluffs that I'm sure will be ironed out (the song "We're off to see the wizard" was rather a tongue twister, there were some parts of costumes falling off and one of the props breaking across the stage). On the plus side, the rollerskating scene went off without any accidents. And some of the ensemble already looked a bit bored (some tricks from the cast hidden around the back etc, outside most of the audience's view.

The main cast were all good vocally, but they could just do with a bit more to work with and a bit more energy with the big numbers.

This is the original version, so it doesn't have all the Andrew Lloyd Webber changes.

I don't see a transfer on the cards, so one to see now. A perfectly acceptable way to spend an evening in a pleasant theatre. But you won't feel too bad if you miss it.

Ha!

If you like the songs, you can't not enjoy this.

The lead is very good.

And, I forgot mention, Toto's performance improves lot once the dog stops being real and becomes a puppet (I pity the poor actor who was wagging Toto's puppet tail about 60 times a minute).

There are some nice pubs near the venue too (recommendation is too nip into one on the way to the Crucible).

Got offered a gift voucher in return for the ticket. Well, my mum said not to go ‘cos it will be icy driving back over those hills to Manc so gotta do what Mum says! She asked what show it was and when I told her she said disdainfully “oh well you know what happens anyway” haha love ya Mum!

Might use the gift voucher to see Sunset Boo at the Lyceum *gurgle* ☺️

And I can watch Strictly now. WIN!