Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Strathfield

Strathfield Musical Society (NSW) will present The Wizard of Oz from May 17 at the Latvian Theatre.

The production is to be directed by Christine Firkin, who explained some of her thoughts on the production.

“I’ve seen a lot of versions of The Wizard of Oz including the big ones: the classic MGM movie, the Australian Bert Newton stage version…and even a Sydney Theatre Australian Trailer park version - that was….different. When I was asked to direct a 2013 production for Strathfield Musical Society I was pleased, proud and eager," Christine said. "Then I found out that at least two other companies in Sydney were also doing it, one with a huge production budget and one with the exact same dates. That threw my resolve a little. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to give the company a production with all the bells and whistles of a huge budget production and I certainly didn’t want to suffer by comparison on the basis of what we could afford. So my mission became to find a production aesthetic that would delight an audience and be fresh and exciting within our budget.

“Strathfield Musical Society is staging a Wizard of Oz somewhat in the style of Black Theatre,” she said “Rather than have huge sets we’ll be relying on bright performances by our cast, great lighting, beautiful costumes and a quirky and artistic interpretation. I’ve been thinking laterally and I’m happy with what’s developing.

“For this production regular SMS audiences will be pleased to see the return of Brendan Iddles after his wonderful performance in the title role of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat last year. The director from that show, Elizabeth Lowrencev, is going to be brilliant in the role of the Wicked Witch of the West and we have a young newcomer to the company to be our Dorothy. When the casting committee first saw Debbie Neilson in auditions we couldn’t believe that we’d been lucky to find a young performer who emitted the character of Dorothy so completely.

“Supporting a strong cast is an accomplished production crew. John Tweed returns to take up the musical baton and we’re very lucky to have Edward Rooke to choreograph. Edward is a seasoned professional dancer and amongst his credits you’ll see that he danced in the professional Australian production of The Wizard of Oz in 2000.

“If you’re planning to see our production what will you find? All the characters and songs, humour and warmth that you expect with some abstract artistic touches. You’ll love it.”

The Wizard of Oz plays from May 17 to 25, 2013 at The Latvian Theatre, Strathfield.

www.strathfieldmusicalsociety.com.au

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