FOLLOW the yellow brick road down to the Pavilion this week and you’ll find a production as colourful and spectacular as any you are ever likely to see. No expense has been spared in the elaborate sets and glorious costumes, with those in Munchkinland and the Poppy Field scene especially outstanding.
The company works hard and effectively with a tremendous amount of pzazz, and the singing, under musical director Ian Peters, is well up to standard, but certain aspects of the show left me somewhat perplexed. Emma McNish as Dorothy has a bubbly personality and a lovely smile, but her constant ‘legs apart’ stance and persistence in addressing almost every line to the audience – a technique adopted by all the principals so presumably in response to the director’s instructions – created too much of a pantomime feel and became, for me, intensely irritating.
Neither was I keen on the balletic style of the twister that carries Dorothy off to Oz, nor on the theatre’s acoustic problem that muffled so much of the sound – strangely, less of a problem in the stalls than in the circle. (I tried both). But I loved Nikki Taylor’s evil Wicked Witch, a delightful contrast to Glinys Luff’s sugary Good Witch, and there were good performances all round, in particular from Bryan Newman, a most personable Scarecrow.

Linda Kirkman
Courtesy of the Bournemouth Evening Echo