The Wiz - Perth College WA
Based on the classic Wizard of Oz, The Wiz was first performed in 1975 with Motown legends Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow and Dianna Ross as Dorothy. With Jane Murray (Acting Head of Drama at Perth College) as director, the students of Perth College and herself decided to begin their own journey down the yellow brick road as they began rehearsing The Wiz for their Senior School production in 2010.
After many longs hours of rehearsal, the Production opened on the 24th of June for three nights of performance. The first thing that caught the eye when the curtains opened was the bright colourful costumes. As Dorothy ran past the stage in a pink and yellow mini dress with silver platforms and pink eyelashes to match you could feel the audience buzz with excitement.
Over 200 costumes could be seen in the performance, from velour tracksuits to bright yellow ponchos. With the characters having high (and I mean HIGH) sleek styled hair to accompany their outfits it felt as though you had been thrown right back in time. The sets also impressed, with the talented Lachlan Bain’s, amped camp performance as the Wiz being introduced on a larger than life pinball machine at the end of Act 1.
The Perth College music department and students made sure that the return journey to the stylish era was set to a rocking mo-town score. They blew the crowd away with their ability to do this, each song left the audience wanting another.
Jasmin Dyer’s performance as Dorothy was perfectly polished, hitting all the right notes.
Tess Wilkinson, who played the scarecrow, had her jelly legs down pack; her song ‘I was born on the day before yesterday’ was a crowd pleaser and so were her back up break dancing crows. Brit Evans was very smooth with her portrayal of the Tinman, what was most impressive was her ability to get in to the groove. And lastly the Lion, It is fair to say that the Lion played by Jackson Griggs more than impressed the audience. His one-liners were hilarious and he had the perfect dopey/cute balance as he portrayed a timid lion that just wanted his mummy. The three witches; Addaperle (Amy Kalantary), Evillene (Essie Laugharne) and Glinda (Genevieve Ogilvie) all had very impressive scenes and songs. Each chorus member brought something different to the performance, and the large chorus numbers moved the audience.
If ever a Wiz, A wiz there was, Perth College’s Wiz a Wiz it was.
Georgia Wilkinson-Derums
Drama Captain