Ohio Shakespeare offers 'The Wizard of Oz' everyone loves, with a folk flair

You haven't seen "The Wizard of Oz" quite like this before.

In Ohio Shakespeare Festival's (OSF) production of the beloved musical, farm girl Dorothy wears overalls — not her iconic blue gingham dress — in the beginning. And Glinda doesn't make her magical entrance in one big bubble. She's accompanied by lots of bubbles, which cast members blow from bubble machines.

One of the biggest innovations that OSF has brought to "The Wizard of Oz" is its folksy twist, led onstage by local English/Irish folk band The Rude Sea. These band members have adapted the full orchestral score from the Royal Shakespeare Company's version of "Oz" for folk instruments including banjo, guitar, melodica, accordion and the hurdy gurdy.

The Rude Sea formed in 2021, comprised of cast members of OSF's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Many people have heard of triple threats: performers who can sing, dance and act. For "Wizard of Oz," which runs through May 12 at Greystone Hall, the actor-musicians are quadruple threats who sing, dance, act and also play instruments that are integrated into the action onstage.

Audiences can expect to hear the iconic score from the MGM film, folk-style.

"It was very experimental. The first whole week of rehearsal was just figuring out what sounded good together," director Tess Burgler said of OSF's folk adaptation. "It's unexpected, because it sounds different just because of the instruments that are being played."

"It'd be like going to see a country music band perform Adele or something. It'll be the songs you recognize, but it'll have a totally different flavor," she said.

That means Rude Sea member Chrissy Margevicius, who plays the Wicked Witch and other roles, also plays accordion and piano. Band member Natalie Steen not only stars as Dorothy, she also plays the ukulele and piano, which is on a rotating platform at center stage.

Versatile performer Evan Wilhelms of Rude Sea, who portrays characters ranging from Uncle Henry to a flying monkey, also plays bass, piano, mandolin and guitar.

"It has been kind of a collaborative process, figuring out how to take this 1930s score and put it on these instruments that everyone has some expertise in," he said.

He's enjoying his multiple roles as an instrumentalist, actor, singer and dancer in the musical.

"It's a lot of fun to be getting to do all that, then switch between playing piano and being a monkey and and being mayor (of Munchkin City) and then I'm a monkey who picks up my upright bass and gets to play a jazz tune before we kidnap Dorothy," Wilhelms said.

Cast member Jessica Lauren not only portrays the malevolent Jitterbug for the big "Jitterbug" dance number, she's also like a pied piper on her fiddle, enticing adventurers Dorothy, the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow to follow her in the dance.

Madelyn Hayes, who plays Glinda, covers all the percussion and Zach Palumbo, who plays Professor marble and the Wizard of Oz, plays piano, accordion, banjo and guitar.

Even when instrumentalists aren't playing a character, they're on stage watching the scene. Several actors play the droning hurdy gurdy, which looks like a big, boxy, hand-held harp with a crank.

Imaginative staging

Expect the unexpected in this imaginative production of the classic "Wizard of Oz" story, performed by 12 human actors and a Goldendoodle.

For the story's famous twister, the music starts with the piano playing a low grumble that grows. Then a character shakes a thunder box to make a thunder sound and then the fiddle begins with a twister theme.

Adding to the tornado effect, an actor cranks the hurdy gurdy that sounds like a freight train while another operates a wind machine. The piano starts to turn as Steen's Dorothy is sucked up by the tornado, with the help of actors using leaf blowers.

She sees an actor go by carrying an inflatable flying cow, picket fencing "flying" away as actors twist and turn it, men in a rowboat and an old lady in a rocking chair.

"It's supposed to be fun that you see the mechanics of it," Burgler said of the twister stage magic.

Whimsical twists include the use of puppets, integrated with actors, to create the beloved Lullaby League and Lollipop Guild munchkin trios.

Two sets of munchkin puppets created by co-costume designer Mary LaConte become wearable puppets, with the actor harnessed in the middle. For each munchkin set, two life-sized puppets are connected to poles, so when the actor dances, all three dance in unison.

Burgler described the effect as a giant marionette costume.

As Dorothy starts her adventure down the Yellow Brick Road toward Oz, actors set down yellow, wood puzzle pieces as she steps along her path. Actors also use a mini xylophone, slide whistle and kazoos at key points like live radio play-style sound effects, with the folksy xylophone effect happening when Dorothy gets her ruby slippers.

First time for on-stage seats

For this immersive show, the theater is offering special, on-stage seating for the first time for guests to get as close as possible to this over-the-rainbow adventure. Three bistro tables with two seats each will be available to reserve for each performance. Cost is $85 per table, which includes two tickets.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Musical: "The Wizard of Oz"

When: Continuing through May 12, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Greystone Hall, 103 S. High St., Akron

Onstage: Natalie Steen, Ryan Zarecki, Tom Barnes, Hannah Storch, Chrissy Margevicius, Madelyn Hayes, Zach Palumbo, Evan Wilhelms, Lysander Mills, Jessica Lauren, Jenni DeLuca, John Peters, Summer the dog

Offstage: Based on the book by L. Fraum Baum; Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, music and lyrics; Herbert Stothart, background music; Peter Howard, dance and vocal arrangements; Larry Wilcox, orchestration; John Kane, adaptation for the Royal Shakespeare Company; Tess Burgler, director; The Rude Sea, music direction; Jailyn Harris, choreographer; Jenni DeLuca, stage manager; Ryan Zarecki, fight director; Marty LaConte and Kelsey Tomlinson, costume designers; Leo Bond, lighting designer; Natalie Steen, set designer; Ryan Zarecki and Marty LaConte, props; Rachel Prior, assistant stage manager

Price: $20-$35, free student tickets at the door. Onstage tables $85 for two people. See ohioshakespearefestival.com/wizard or call 330-574-2537

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ohio Shakespeare brings folk flair, inventive staging to 'Wizard of Oz'