An Enduring Spell
Newcastle Herald
Thursday March 25, 1999
NEWCASTLE'S Young People's Theatre can be assured of hanging out the `house full' signs each time it stages The Wizard of Oz.
The story of Dorothy's adventures with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion in the magical land of Oz has constantly been the most popular of the group's shows in the past 45 years.
A 1976 production, the first in YPT's Hamilton theatre, set a still extant record for Newcastle's longest-running show when it played for 67 performances.
For sentimental reasons, YPT director Wendy Leis had hoped that The Wizard of Oz would be the first production staged in the new YPT theatre, but building delays and scheduling problems prevented that.
Wizard, however, will be the second show in the theatre.
It opens on April 12 for a limited, 20-performance season, and several matinees already are booked out.
Wendy Leis, who co-directs with Kelsie Allan, believes a magical combination of elements is behind Wizard's popularity.
These include a wonderful fantasy story, a good mix of delightful, amusing and scary characters ? the cackling Wicked Witch of the West, for instance ? and colourful sets and costumes.
Leis has directed two other productions of Wizard but avoids making them carbon copies.
`With different young actors playing the roles and adding their touches to the characterisations that would be impossible, anyway,' she said.
While this one will use William Ford's adaptation of the Frank L. Baum novel that has been the text for YPT productions since the 1950s, there will be some significant differences in the staging.
The new YPT theatre does not have a stage curtain yet so the directors and set designer are having to be more inventive than usual when it comes to scene changes.
At the same time, the new theatre has much better lighting equipment than its predecessor, so audiences will be offered better lighting effects.
The costumes will be a special treat.
When Wendy Leis was looking in the late William Ford's garage for a copy of his Snow White script a year ago, she found a portfolio of his costume design sketches for Wizard's first production. They have been used as the models for the production's costumes.
Perhaps the most significant change is the songs.
William Ford wrote two for the show but otherwise used the well-known songs from the 1939 MGM film under licence.
However, when YPT tried to license the songs for this year's production they ran into a snag.
The United States-based rights holders would only license the songs provided the group also used an accompanying play text.
Wendy Leis said that apart from the big cost involved (about $A5000), the text was designed for professional stagings.
In the end, the group decided to use the Ford text and to write new songs to replace the prohibitively expensive ones.
While Leis regrets the absence of the stalwart Over the Rainbow, she said the 12 new songs were excellent.
`They have been written by people aged between 14 and 22 and I consider some of them to be better than those used in the film,' she said.
More than 70 of YPT's record 270 students are involved in the production.
There are two casts and some roles are being played by up to five actors, a sign of the depth of YPT's young talent.
The Wizard of Oz plays daily from Monday, April 12, to Friday, April 16, at 11am, and on Saturday, April 17, at 2pm and 7pm.
Other performances in the first week will be on April 14 at 7pm and April 15 and 16 at 2pm.
The show will then play each Saturday until May 22 at 2pm and 7pm.
Book at the theatre, on the corner of Lindsay and Lawson Sts, Hamilton (phone 4961-5345).
© 1999 Newcastle Herald
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