The Wizard of Oz Reviews

Stuart Palmer from London, England

WAS THE SET UPSCALED FROM A SCHOOL PRODUCTION?

Flying monkeys, the wicked witch zooming in from above, pitch perfect singing and memorable songs . . . are just a few of the things you would expect - but will not find in this production. Gary Wilmot and Dianne Pilkington are stand out performers with almost all the cast being at the very least competent. Unfortunately both the big names brought in for star appeal fail to hold a single note. If their parts were just cameos then it might have been fine, but as central characters it rather marred the whole show. The tickets were cheap, bought at release, and my wife says it is no worse than many of the 10 week fillers we have seen at the Palladium. If you are thinking of buying some cheap tickets - do so, just keep your expectations like the cast, firmly on the ground.

Julie Harding from Cheltenham,, England

THANK WIZARD FOR JASON

Disappointing from the off! Was like an cheap amateur production in my opinion! The sets were really basic and disappointing, could have done so much with it, mostly projected onto a screen in a cinematic style, the yellow brick road consisted of three large arrows that lit up as yellow bricks and they pushed around in front of a screen attempting to make it look like they were travelling! The whole thing didn’t know what it wanted to be … so it started with projected pictures of newspapers to give you a time line (we know when wizard was set), then Glinda came on looking like a cross between Barbie and a pink lady riding a pink moped looking like it was set in the 50s or vegas type style, the tin man was more of a robot and was very much just Ashley Banjo doing a bit of robotic dancing with some puffs of smoke coming out of him and he def can’t sing! Toto was a puppet that a man ran round with the whole show (to be fair a great puppet and he moved it so cleverly) but still odd as I watched him more than the dog. The munchkins just didn’t fit the bill at all and the wicked witch lived in wicked witch industries and was played in a comedic style (not scary at all), she also rode a bike and her broomstick fired what seemed like fire except the pyros didn’t always work, when they melted her they used a fire extinguisher with H20 written on it … I could go on .., honestly I don’t know what I watched! The songs were great and I have to say Jason manford as the cowardly lion saved the show! He was exactly like the guy in the film and was brilliant! The crowd lifted when he came on and wow can he sing! He literally carried the show! People around us were disappointed and saying the same ..,- it could have been amazing (they do such clever things on stage nowadays) but this was poor bordering on embarrassing! We paid for a West End experience and got a school production crossed with a panto 😳

Joanna naylor from England

SINCE WHEN WAS DOROTHY A 40 YEAR OLD WOMAN?

A very disappointing show. Dorothy is supposed to be an 11 year old girl, not a 40 year old woman. The wicked witch and the scarecrow were the best performers. Unfortunately the rest of the cast had very little stage performance whatsoever. There was good vocals but acting skills, choreography and setting was pretty poor to be honest for £450! More panto than west end show. The highlight for us were the musicians and in particular the conductor who not only conducted but also played the keyboard with passion and outstanding energy throughout the show. He was phenomenal.

Graham from London, England

A LAZY PRODUCTION

OK - I was looking forward to this show but was bitterly disappointed. First, there are too many projected backdrops - none of which you can see if you’re unlucky enough (like me) to be in the cheap seats. Note to designers: just because we’re poor doesn’t mean we don’t want to see the action! This also included being unable to see the “wizard” or indeed the rainbow (if there was one!) Next: no flying. Witches on motorbikes?? Winged monkeys that don’t take-off? I don’t think so…. Finally “little touches”: since when did a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher constitute “water”? Why did we not get “transformed” when Dorothy went over the (unseen) rainbow?? Or, for that matter, when she went back again? Why was the evil witch actually pretty?? On the plus side: the singing, actors & puppetry (Toto) was excellent & can’t be faulted. The yellow-brick road scenes were the best. A great cast in a poorly designed show. Poor people: save your money & watch the film.

Michael W from County Durham, England

COULDN’T SEE MOST OF THE SHOW

Thought the singing was good and could follow the story by listening to the characters, but the view from my seat was appalling. I couldn’t see the back of the set at all from the wide angle I had four rows back in the stalls. Most of the show was played in the huge section of the stage that was not visible to me. Extremely disappointed. Stayed only for my daughter who was three seats inside mine and could see more than I could from her angle but by no means the full stage. There was no indication of restricted viewing on ordering the tickets so was not expecting this at all.

Kate from Leeds, England

DON’T BOTHER

The Wizard of Oz is titled as a pantomime but there is absolutely NO interaction with the audience. Dorothy is, to be fair, a good singer but far too old for the role. The dog (Toto) wasn’t even a dog, it was a good puppet but the puppeteer was distracting and ran around with the puppet the whole show. It was far too cinematic for a musical/show and lots of things were happening at the same time. The cheap seats for three still cost us £165 and we have seen far better shows for cheaper!! Jason Manford (the lion) was very good. In the interval the three of us were considering whether to leave or not. There are far better shows in London to see and we wish we had read these reviews before paying the large price! Don’t bother if you are thinking of going!

Shruti from London, England

NOT LIKE THE MOVIE- AT ALL!

Just came back from the show and what a disappointment. The first shock if Dorothy. What were they thinking?! The actor is completely wrong for the role, she did not even tie her hair in two ponies like Dorothy. My daughter was so disappointed! Loved the lion but the rest can be given a miss. Thank God, we got cheap tickets but I would rather spend that money on watching movie instead!!

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