The Wizard of Oz!

The first musical in my West End weekend marathon. The modern Gillian Lynne theatre was the perfect place to bring this remake of the classic Judy Garland musical to life. A fantastic mix of projected effects and live action made for a really fun and transformative production, the tornado scene was particularly impressive as were the scenes featuring the yellow brick road.  The cast were superb using their strong ensemble and multi rolling skills to bring all the colorful characters to life with imagination and creativity. Aviva Tulley was perfect as Dorothy bringing grit yet vulnerability to this classic role- her rendition of 'Over the Rainbow' was just stunning. Other stand out performances for me were The Vivienne as the wicked witch- incredible characterization throughout and Nick Greenshields and Benjamin Yeates as the Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow- again 10/10 for characterization and energy. The only slight annoyance was I was seated to the far right side of the gallery and I did miss most of the special effects sequences with the projected image of the wizard- it would definitely be worth choosing a seat without restricted views to fully appreciate all elements still I can't complain overall for a very spacious £20 seat not to mention an up close and personal surprise encounter with the wicked witch! All in all a superb production!