[NEohioPAL] Review of "The Wizard of Oz" at Mercury Theatre Company

[Bob Abelman]

Mercury throws glitter at the ‘Wizard of Oz’ to see what sticks



Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal



Like the directions to Oz that the Scarecrow offers Dorothy during their first encounter in the cornfield, there are two ways to go when approaching a stage production of “The Wizard of Oz.”



One is to realize that, ever since MGM’s iconic 1939 reworking of L. Frank Baum’s novel with Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg’s Oscar-winning score, the yellow brick road traverses sacred ground.  In the lavish, highly reverent adaptation created by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the dialogue and structure of the classic film is recreated nearly verbatim.  As performed on national tour, which came through Cleveland in 2015, this production reminds us that there’s no place like homage. 



But given Pierre-Jacques Brault’s proclivity for playfulness on a limited budget, his Mercury Theatre Company has opted to go in a decisively different direction – one that celebrates the work but, under his direction, imbues the RSC script with the company’s signature impishness and resourceful reinvention.  



For more of this review, go to:  www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/
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