Shakespeare by the Sea set to stage its own adaptation of classic tale, The Wizard of "Uh" Oz
By Dean LiskShakespeare by the Sea is getting ready to click its heels three times and wish for a hit with its new family show, The Wizard of "Uh" Oz."It is going to appeal to kids and be funny to adults," said Kevin MacPherson, who is in charge of the production, which official opens today. "It tries to be clever, there are subversive things for the parents to enjoy."Rather than basing their adaptation on the film version, the play is based on L. Frank Baum's 1901 book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."It's markedly different than the movie," said MacPherson about the book. "A lot of people know the story, but they don't know the whole story, so we are filling in the gaps."They aren't ruby red slippers in the book, they are silver shoes - I don't know why they made them ruby red."He said all the main characters are there; Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion, Wicked Witch of the West, and Wizard of Oz. We also get to meet characters from the book not included in the movie, like the Quadlings and Winkies.The play stars Zack Apostoleris, Emily Bartlett, Adam Bayne, Nathan Bender, Rhys Bevan-John, Lacey Haynes, Mike McPhee, Andrea Norwood, Drew O'Hara and Gordon White.Macpherson is in it, too. He plays Toto.All about tweakingThe adaptation started when he took the book and turned into straight dialogue. That dialogue was then adapted into a skeleton script, which the actors tweaked to add humour and wit."That's the thing about directing a play that doesn't exist; it's all tweaking," MacPherson said. "They actors are all pretty much on the same page. They get the cheekiness, and they get the humour. The cast has some funny people."We've taken liberties here and there. We've created one character - we thought it would be fun to have the ghost of the Wicked With of the East in the story so she can torment people. It provides an interesting angle.
"This is MacPherson's third year being involved in the summer family productions. Along with "Uh" Oz and last year's Robin Hood, he was also in 2005's Snow White.He says the company is being clever with the costumes. If you dressed the actor playing the Tin Woodman in actual metal, he'd probably bake to death in the Halifax sun."It's a lean budget too, so we are making due with what we have. But, that's part of the charm of it."dlisk@hfxnews.ca
http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=7113&sc=8
"This is MacPherson's third year being involved in the summer family productions. Along with "Uh" Oz and last year's Robin Hood, he was also in 2005's Snow White.He says the company is being clever with the costumes. If you dressed the actor playing the Tin Woodman in actual metal, he'd probably bake to death in the Halifax sun."It's a lean budget too, so we are making due with what we have. But, that's part of the charm of it."dlisk@hfxnews.ca
http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=7113&sc=8
