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Sunday, November 25, 2012

REVIEW: DOROTHY & CO. FLY OVER RAINBOW AND LAND AT CENTENARY COLLEGE

Sheila at CatoberfestBy Sheila Abrams

The folks at the Centenary Stage Co. in Hackettstown haven’t held anything back in their current holiday extravaganza, The Wizard of Oz. The show opened Nov. 23 at the Sitnik Theatre on the Hackettstown campus of Centenary College, offering for the third year running a holiday event perfectly conceived for the whole family.

This is not an attempt to recreate the 1939 MGM movie. It’s based on an adaptation by Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company, and includes the famous songs from the movie as well as some additional music. With a cast of about 50, a live orchestra, superb scenery, lighting and special effects and flying witches (as well as a few other airborne characters), it is doubtless the flashiest entertainment seen in Hackettstown since the Lackland Center for the Arts opened here three years ago.

clip_image001[1]The story does not need retelling here. That’s just as well, because it makes very little sense at best, and occasionally lines of dialogue and lyrics of songs are hard to understand. But that’s okay. This is not a play where the subtleties of character development make much difference.

clip_image001[4]It should be said—it seems always to require saying, when talking about CSC—that this is a professional production. Several in the cast are Actors Equity members and some others are journeyman professional actors. And the young actors, singers and dancers from the college’s Young Performers Workshop, who portray the Munchkins (above, right), acquit themselves beautifully. Ditto with the performers from the college’s theater and dance departments. Among the last group, in fact, is Saquan Williams, a Centenary junior, whose comic sense and apparently rubber limbs enable him to steal almost every scene he is in as he portrays the Scarecrow.

clip_image001[4]Actually all the performances are right on target. McKenzie Custin (left, to the right) is a delight as Dorothy—not easy, considering that the role is firmly fixed in everyone’s mind as portrayed by Judy Garland. Custin is possessed of an absolutely gorgeous singing voice and, hard as it is to believe, her rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” will not make you crave the iconic Garland.

clip_image001[6]Nick Ardito-Martelli (above, right)turns in some smooth tap-dancing as the Tinman who wants a heart, and Jeremy William Hilgert is a lovable Cowardly Lion (right). Probably my favorite portrayal (other than Toto, Dorothy’s dog—we’ll come to that later) is the marvelous Colleen Smith Wallnau (below, flying), a perfectly lovely woman who nevertheless seems born to play the Wicked Witch of the West. A Broadway veteran who is the wife of CSC artistic director Carl Wallnau, she flies through the air on her broomstick, cackling with malevolent glee to everyone’s delight. Wallnau himself, incidentally, is cast in a singularly unflashy role as Dorothy’s Uncle Henry, where he does a workmanlike job.

clip_image001[7]Now, on to Toto. As anyone can tell from my photo, I am a devoted dog-lover. And if you know The Wizard of Oz, you know that Dorothy’s dog, Toto, is central to the plot. Well, CSC has the amazing good fortune to have cast a four-month-old puppy named Magic, the pet of ensemble member Anthony Zas, in the role. Magic is a perfect name for this little critter. He behaved perfectly on opening night despite the mayhem around him. Fingers crossed that he can keep it up.

The show is directed and gorgeously choreographed by Michael Blevins. Some of the large-scale dance numbers have a slightly psychedelic feeling about them, and another audience member asked me what the dancers in one number represented. I had to admit I didn’t know (some of the beautiful costumes designed by Julia Sharp have a surreal quality).

clip_image001[9]So great songs, good acting, beautiful dancing, superb scenery, special effects and aerial spectacle make this show a real holiday treat. Dare I say that I frankly am tired of the movie version, having seen it eight times? But I enjoyed this version, even if the plot didn’t always make sense. And you don’t get to see a real theatrical spectacle every day. Highly recommended!

To purchase tickets or to find more information on other performances in the 2012-2013 season, visit www.centenarystageco.org or call 908.979.0900. Patrons are encouraged to check the age recommendations for individual shows.