meanwhile back in the wicked witch's castle...
[mood | 
*hmmm* ]
He's the Wiz and he lives in Oz...
And bloody hell did he surprise me! Last Friday my flatmate dragged me off to the Beatrix Theatre to see the last try-out of Joop vd Ende’s new musical The Wiz. First of all, I had a great time, the show was sparkly, shiny, glittery, energetic and colourful. The ensemble surprised me, as did some of the lead voices. Singing and dancing was, overall, very good, despite some technical problems like mikes that weren’t on. The scenery was pretty and looked functional. The Yellow Brick Road stole my heart *squee*
Unfortunately, after a little while, the production proved to be rather… unfinished. Too bad Joop, I expected better of you. Some very crucial moments in the storyline were rather badly worked out and, going by the muttering audience around me, I wasn’t the only one who noticed this.
Joop, you’ve done great things for the Dutch musical scene but please, please, stop spending your money on fancy electrics and nutty props and hire yourself a good dramaturg!! I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was bothered by:
- The absence of the final scene where Dorothy finds her way back home Please, we want to see her actually get back to Kansas! Clicking of sparkly heels and a big shiny finale is not going to satisfy your audience, kthnx.
- The defeat of the Wicked Witch of the West being reduced to two minutes of crying, bad dialogue and even worse melting (she had to crawl up the steps HOW OBVIOUS). The Wicked Witch is great, give her more airtime! Show the audience her wickedness. Expand the capture and the torturing of the Friends, please, it makes the desperate action of Scarecrow so much clearer!
- The Poppies. I had to play a Poppy years ago, we had ridiculous suits and annoying glitter but at least the scene wasn’t just in there to show off the poledancing (omgwtf). Give it a follow-up, make it go somewhere, please. Right now the only thing the Poppy scene tells the audience is this: “Yes, Lion got some drugs, sex & rock ‘n’ roll and he enjoyed it!” That’s nice for Lion but it does not really add anything to the plot. Don’t take it out (‘cause, honestly, it’s a nice scene to watch) but please, give it more meaning than this.
- Brand New Day. The translation is rather nice. I like how it reflects the hostility in today’s world and asks the audience to do something about that. The whole “get together” message is, in my opinion, a good one, if a bit flimsy and easy (but hey, it’s a musical). It goes nicely with the release of the slaves of the Wicked Witch after she melts. It’s just that... with all the dancing and gadgets on stage you don’t quite get this message across until the finale (and during the finale it obviously has to be repeated twice...). The whole Wicked Witch scene, it just needs a little more depth!
- The inarticulate singing of Tin Man. If that’s really because of the costume, change it godsdamnit!
- Mathilde Santing. Don’t get me wrong, I normally love her music but she cannot act her way out of a wet paper bag if she had to! Now that girl in the ensemble, the one who played aunt Em in the beginning of the show, she blew me away. She was fabulous! She did not need five minutes to get into her six minute song *glower* Please get over the fact that nobody knows her name and give her a lead! Thnx.
*end of rant*
I’m sure most of the audience was like “ooh shiny” throughout the show. That’s fine. However, and I’m going to be blunt here, the rest of the audience, those people who are not so easily amused by the mere sparkle and glitter, they are going to go home unsatisfied. They will wonder what the heck happened to Dorothy. Whether or not she ever got back to Kansas or if she will forever spin around in the space in-between. They will wonder about the state of some of the props and scenery. They will scratch their heads at the finale and wonder why the hell Dorothy is belting the whole time (which makes her look like a three-year-old crying for a sweetie and she’s really a pretty woman when she actually sings!).
Overall, I had a great time and it was a nice show, but for me, ‘nice’ is all it was. There’s too much there that needs fixing or readjustment. I definitely would not pay fifty quid to see it again.
*steps off soapbox*
Love,
Nine
*hmmm* ]
He's the Wiz and he lives in Oz...
And bloody hell did he surprise me! Last Friday my flatmate dragged me off to the Beatrix Theatre to see the last try-out of Joop vd Ende’s new musical The Wiz. First of all, I had a great time, the show was sparkly, shiny, glittery, energetic and colourful. The ensemble surprised me, as did some of the lead voices. Singing and dancing was, overall, very good, despite some technical problems like mikes that weren’t on. The scenery was pretty and looked functional. The Yellow Brick Road stole my heart *squee*
Unfortunately, after a little while, the production proved to be rather… unfinished. Too bad Joop, I expected better of you. Some very crucial moments in the storyline were rather badly worked out and, going by the muttering audience around me, I wasn’t the only one who noticed this.
Joop, you’ve done great things for the Dutch musical scene but please, please, stop spending your money on fancy electrics and nutty props and hire yourself a good dramaturg!! I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was bothered by:
- The absence of the final scene where Dorothy finds her way back home Please, we want to see her actually get back to Kansas! Clicking of sparkly heels and a big shiny finale is not going to satisfy your audience, kthnx.
- The defeat of the Wicked Witch of the West being reduced to two minutes of crying, bad dialogue and even worse melting (she had to crawl up the steps HOW OBVIOUS). The Wicked Witch is great, give her more airtime! Show the audience her wickedness. Expand the capture and the torturing of the Friends, please, it makes the desperate action of Scarecrow so much clearer!
- The Poppies. I had to play a Poppy years ago, we had ridiculous suits and annoying glitter but at least the scene wasn’t just in there to show off the poledancing (omgwtf). Give it a follow-up, make it go somewhere, please. Right now the only thing the Poppy scene tells the audience is this: “Yes, Lion got some drugs, sex & rock ‘n’ roll and he enjoyed it!” That’s nice for Lion but it does not really add anything to the plot. Don’t take it out (‘cause, honestly, it’s a nice scene to watch) but please, give it more meaning than this.
- Brand New Day. The translation is rather nice. I like how it reflects the hostility in today’s world and asks the audience to do something about that. The whole “get together” message is, in my opinion, a good one, if a bit flimsy and easy (but hey, it’s a musical). It goes nicely with the release of the slaves of the Wicked Witch after she melts. It’s just that... with all the dancing and gadgets on stage you don’t quite get this message across until the finale (and during the finale it obviously has to be repeated twice...). The whole Wicked Witch scene, it just needs a little more depth!
- The inarticulate singing of Tin Man. If that’s really because of the costume, change it godsdamnit!
- Mathilde Santing. Don’t get me wrong, I normally love her music but she cannot act her way out of a wet paper bag if she had to! Now that girl in the ensemble, the one who played aunt Em in the beginning of the show, she blew me away. She was fabulous! She did not need five minutes to get into her six minute song *glower* Please get over the fact that nobody knows her name and give her a lead! Thnx.
*end of rant*
I’m sure most of the audience was like “ooh shiny” throughout the show. That’s fine. However, and I’m going to be blunt here, the rest of the audience, those people who are not so easily amused by the mere sparkle and glitter, they are going to go home unsatisfied. They will wonder what the heck happened to Dorothy. Whether or not she ever got back to Kansas or if she will forever spin around in the space in-between. They will wonder about the state of some of the props and scenery. They will scratch their heads at the finale and wonder why the hell Dorothy is belting the whole time (which makes her look like a three-year-old crying for a sweetie and she’s really a pretty woman when she actually sings!).
Overall, I had a great time and it was a nice show, but for me, ‘nice’ is all it was. There’s too much there that needs fixing or readjustment. I definitely would not pay fifty quid to see it again.
*steps off soapbox*
Love,
Nine