‘Oz’ is a delightful new take on an old story

By Donald H. Harrison

CORONADO, California – It is altogether fitting that the Lambs Players Theatre here in Coronado should be the one to debut a new musical, Oz, based on L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz.”  Baum used to vacation at the nearby Hotel del Coronado, and some of his later stories in the Oz series were said to be penned there.

People long have made the association in Coronado between the cupolas atop the Hotel del Coronado and the structures of the fictional Emerald City in Oz.  This sense of connection was deepened when the Emerald Shapery Center, across the bay in downtown San Diego, was built in such a way that it could project emerald rings of light into the area’s night sky.

Tremendous credit is due to Jon Lorenz, who rejuvenated the well-known story with new music and lyrics and to Kerry Meads who directed this world premiere, which will run through Sunday, Nov. 22.

Besides being a musical treat, with the cast singing and dancing to the rhythms of bluegrass, gospel and salsa, Oz is a treat for people who enjoy dialects.  The Munch Kin people speak in Irish and Scottish accents; the witches seem archly English; the scarecrow is a hillbilly; the tin man is African-American, and the Cowardly Lion is Latino.  As for Dorothy– what else? — she’s from Kansas.

Nope, no Yiddish or Hebrew accents in this play, but there is one Jewish actor in the production who portrays the first and last important personages whom Dorothy meets in the magical world of Oz.   The actor is John Rosen, who portrays Boq, a spokesperson for the Munch Kin, and also plays the wonderful Wizard.  Program notes inform that Rosen has appeared in two productions around town of specific Jewish interest: Fiddler on the Roof and Old Jews Telling Jokes.

Dorothy, played by Megan Carmichael, is on stage almost 100 percent of the time, and the part suffers a little from overexposure.  Personally, I thought the prelude portion of the play, in which Dorothy and her aunt and uncle establish that the outlook for economic prosperity in Kansas is as gray as the sky, took too long and could use some cutting.

The real fun begins after Dorothy (without her dog Toto in this version) heeds the Munch Kin’s directions to follow the yellow brick road and she meets the scarecrow (James Royce Edwards), the woodsman (Bryan Barbarin) and the Lion (Fernando Vega).  Dorothy and her three companions are all wonderful in this play, but Vega is the greatest audience-pleaser, alternating macho bravado with outright trembling, shivering, quivering and shuddering.  He gets most of the laughs.

Prior to the play, Lambs Players Producing Director Robert Smyth told the audience that in this version of Oz, Toto doesn’t come along and Dorothy doesn’t wear ruby slippers.  Predictably the audience sighed regretfully with an “Ahhh,” to which Smyth responded that if Toto and ruby slippers were what the audience wanted, they could always rent the DVD of the 1939 movie starring Judy Garland.

I think the audience should take Smyth up on his suggestion, especially if a DVD of this new production, Oz, also becomes available.  It would be fun to watch the old movie followed by the new to see how a classic can be refreshed and modernized and still retain its charm.

Mazal tov to Lambs Players Theatre.  I think they have a hit on their hands!

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com