TMP’s ‘Wizard of Oz’ is a delight for all ages

To close out its 2008-09 season, Tacoma Musical Playhouse (TMP) has revived the classic story “The Wizard of Oz,” which is being performed through Aug. 2.

The story is known far and wide, about the adventures of young Kansas girl Dorothy Gale and her little dog companion, Toto, in the strange yet magical Land of Oz. Even though Dorothy loves the Land of Oz and her newfound friends there, she realizes that what she misses most is her family.

Originally written by L. Frank Baum in 1900, this story was adapted for film in 1939. The movie starred Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow, Jack Haley as the Tinman, Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, and Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale. For an added bit of trivia, the character of Toto was played by a terrier named Terry and eventually had her – yes, her – name changed to Toto after the movie. TMP’s stage adaptation stars Taylor Niemeyer as Dorothy, Steve Barnett as the Scarecrow, Kody Bringman as the Tinman and Chris Serface as the Lion.

Now I will admit, I was excited when I found out that I was going to go see this play. The movie has always been magical to me, from childhood to adulthood, and I expected the plot, no matter what adaptation, to live up to certain expectations. But I grew skeptical when I initially saw the venue at TMP. I was wondering how this small theater was going to capture the same magic that the book and movie have exuded for so many decades. While waiting for the play to start, I was wondering how they were going to pull off, or come close to pulling off, the elaborate effects: How were they going to have the tornado scene? What about when the house drops on the witch?

Then the overture began…and as I sat there listening to the orchestra play, looking at the scenery representing the Kansas farm, I began to picture the opening credits in the movie. Just the music itself brought a smile to my face and made me remember the magical movie. To my delight, it did not matter how small the venue was because the TMP troupe captured the essence of the plot perfectly. I was hooked from that point onward.

Adapted from the screenplay by John Kane, TMP’s production stayed true to the story but included elements of its own style. All the actors were wonderful, but the Scarecrow (Barnett) really caught my attention. In the movie version, the Scarecrow was acted out delightfully but his physical movement was that of a man dressed as a scarecrow. Barnett’s Scarecrow was very animated; he moved the way I would imagine a “live” scarecrow would move. Scarecrows do not have a skeletal system, so to me they would move fluidly and limberly. Barnett did not stand up straight, did not walk stiffly, and really let his body do the talking (so to speak).

The play also improvised some parts, making it a little more modern. For example, the Cowardly Lion explains why he became a coward: as a cub, his father held him over a cliff overlooking a savannah, waved his paw over him and claimed, “One day, son, this will all be yours.” Clearly this is a reference to Disney’s “The Lion King,” but was a creative connecting reference for kids and adults to understand.

Lastly, one of the climatic scenes in the movie was given a new flavor in TMP’s adaptation. The scene where Dorothy gets captured by the flying monkeys was completely redone. Instead of the monkeys swooping down and grabbing the girl, the Wicked Witch of the West decides to infect the friends with the Jitterbug (a nod to a song and dance number by the same name cut from the original “Oz” film). The Jitterbug caused the group to dance to exhaustion so that the monkeys could capture Dorothy. This was one of my absolute favorite scenes because there was dancing and a new song not found in the movie. I loved how everyone stayed in character while doing this fast-paced, elaborate dance. It was not actors dancing, it was characters dancing. They never broke their respective character’s natural movement!

There are so many things about this adaptation of the play that make it enjoyable for any age, such as the book and movie have done before. It has much of its originality while integrating its own style, making it a wonderful blend of tradition and modernism. You will not be bored or disappointed!

Tacoma Musical Playhouse is located at 7116 Sixth Ave. Tickets are $25 for adults, $23 for students, seniors and military. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. For tickets or more information, call (253) 565-6867 or visit http://www.tmp.org.

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