CHILDREN’S THEATER REVIEW : ‘Wiz’: We’re Not in Brea Anymore

BREA —  Pity the poor innocents roaming the Brea Civic and Cultural Center parking garage last weekend after an evening at the theater.

There they were, sober citizens searching for their cars when suddenly they were surrounded by . . . Munchkins. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds. Bouncing, screeching imps in living color, filling the dreary space with laughter before disappearing into a squadron of minivans for the ride home.

No doubt about it, Toto. We’re not in Kansas any more.

That scene will be repeated several times today through Sunday as the Brea Youth Theatre presents its final performances of “The Wiz” in the Curtis Theatre in Brea’s Civic Center. Directed by Robert Ferrera, the family musical features 146 actors aged 4 1/2 to 40ish from across Orange County, and judging from last Saturday’s performance, it strikes a chord with viewers of an even wider age range.

Winner of seven Tony awards in 1975, including best musical, “The Wiz,” by William F. Brown and Charlie Smalls, is a funkified retelling of L. Frank Baum’s classic, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

The fundamentals remain the same: Dorothy, a sweet-as-pie Kansas farm girl, unwittingly catches the first twister out of town to Oz, a fantasy land peopled by Munchkins, witches and monkeys with attitudes. Desperate for a return ticket, she and her pals, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion, set off down the Yellow Brick Road to petition the great Wiz.

Major roles in this “Wiz” have been double-cast. At last Saturday’s matinee, 18-year-old Kathleen Gilbert’s Dorothy took her cue from Judy Garland’s portrayal in the 1939 film version, attempting to re-create everything from the brunette ringlets to the plains drawl and nervous hand-wringing. Gilbert has a sweet, clear voice that carried well in most musical numbers, with the exception of the rather weary ballad “Be a Lion.” Adults Dan Zawyrucha and Sharon Carter were folksy but bland in their brief appearances as Uncle Henry and Aunt Em.

Michael Martin, 18, as the Scarecrow, was the standout among Dorothy’s three companions. In comparison, Gavin Carlton’s Tin Man was (no pun intended) somewhat rigid, while Jennifer Daily was pleasingly neurotic as the insecure Lion. Megan Eberly, 15, brimmed with energy as the well-intentioned if slightly batty witch Addaperle who directs the travelers to Oz. But Eberly lost most of her funniest lines to her machine-gun delivery.

As they follow the Yellow Brick Road (personified by here Natalie Carter and Danielle Gunn as pair of leggy, gold-coated dancers), Dorothy and friends encounter dangers that Baum never dreamed of. A leather-jacketed gang of “Munchkins gone bad” lurk at the edge of the poppy fields. The Lion gets busted by a trio of mice narcs (“Miami Mice”--get it?) after a weird, dreamlike dance.

And when they finally do reach Oz, the great Wiz sets their knees knocking with a booming rendition of “So You Want to Meet the Wizard,” before sending them off to vanquish the nastiest witch in Oz, Envillene (Judi Kaspar, attended by 16 pre-adolescent bad-boy monkeys). As the Wiz, Joel-Steven conjures a wonderful stage persona somewhere between Tom Jones and Christopher Lloyd’s Doc in “Back to the Future.”

Settings for this “Wiz” are serviceable if not overly imaginative, but the costumes (most of them rented, with the exception of the bright, clownish Munchkin-wear that were created by cast mothers) and stage magic more than make up for that. The Tin Man, in his stovepipe leggings, hinged jaw and tunnel hat, and the good witch, Glenda (Sharon Haver), in her gossamer-pink gown and glittering, spun-sugar headpiece, are sure to please youngsters.

Choreographer Stephanie Boyd and Ferrera did an admirable job of moving the huge chorus around the stage in some semblance of dance, with particular success on the closing full-cast delivery of “Ease on Down the Road.”

‘The Wiz’

A Brea Youth Theatre production of the musical by Charlie Smalls (music and lyrics) and William F. Brown (book). Directed by Robert Ferrera. Production design and costume coordination by Gene Bennett. Lighting and sound design by Jenson Crawford. Choreography by Stephanie Boyd. Featuring Kathleen Gilbert, Laurie Woelfel, Jennifer Daily, Philip Parke, Gavin Carlton, John Scott Chase, Michael Martin, Eddie Trevino, Joel-Steven and Jason Chase. Performances continue Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at the Curtis Theatre in the Brea Civic and Cultural Center, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea. Tickets: $7 to $8. (714) 990-7722.