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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic'><FONT
face=Arial>Touring ‘Wizard of Oz’ proves that there’s no place like
homage</FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'></SPAN></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Arial>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Arial>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Arial>Member, International Association of Theatre
Critics</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'><FONT
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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face=Arial><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'>The
yellow brick road has become sacred ground since first appearing on the silver
screen in 1939.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is due to
MGM’s brilliant adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s novel, </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>Harold Arlen
and E.Y. Harburg’s Oscar-winning score, and the annual Thanksgiving Day
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ">broadcasts on network TV since the
1950s.</SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'></SPAN></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'><FONT
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'><FONT
face=Arial>So it is a risky enterprise indeed to stage a new adaptation of “The
Wizard of Oz” and take it on the road.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>With a work so very familiar and so very much revered, new productions
must walk that fine line between paying homage and providing innovation.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'><FONT
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'><FONT
face=Arial>The new national tour, which is getting its launch at Playhouse
Square, walks that line to perfection.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>This is a delightful show that infuses all the film’s classic components
with very entertaining theatricality.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'><FONT
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'><FONT
face=Arial>Only it is not new.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold'><FONT
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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face=Arial><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>For
more of this review, go to </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#0563c1>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
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