College students are 'off to see the Wizard'

by GD Tue 02 Mar 2010, 1:24 pm

The story tells of Dorothy's travels through the magical land of Oz

Based on a story by L. Frank Baum and made world famous with the pioneering 1939 film version, Elizabeth College put on The Wizard of Oz in March 2010.
The cast features students from Elizabeth and Ladies College playing the characters following the yellow brick road.
Kit Betley played the Tin Man, with a costume based on the one in the film.
He said: "The costume is ridiculous, it takes about 15 minutes to put on and more than four people to help!"
Most of the cast were of the opinion that getting their characters voices took a lot of work, but Kit said: "It's just me but a bit camper!".

College students are 'off to see the Wizard' _47401172_dsc_0715

The stories rival witches of the west and north

However, Nathanial Eker, who played the cowardly lion, said: "The voice was the biggest challenge, I thought there'd be many other aspects but it takes time - you really have to watch the movie a few more times... I keep finding myself slipping into the Scarecrow's voice, which isn't good!"
For Robert Hall, who played the Scarecrow, it was the movement which proved an issue as he said he was often "quite rigid" on stage, so maintaining the "floppy" nature of the character was "quite painful and complicated".
Of course the Wizard of Oz would not be complete without the witches, both good and bad.
Miranda Griffin played the Wicked Witch of the West which she said was a challenge because she had "to be so evil and generally I'm not an evil person, but it's quite fun".
While Laura Stoddart, or Glinda the Good Witch of the North, said she was "more nervous about the the singing than the acting" but said: "The costume is the best bit, it's like a proper princess dress."
The titular Wizard was played by James Cottam who said the role was a challenge as he is "quite a mad character and quite complicated" and thanks to the characters booming voice which meant James was "continuously shouting" while on stage. (from BBC)