Patrons were glued to their seats with eyes stuck on the stage at the Naparima Bowl, San Fernando, on October 20, as Presentation College Mixed Choir presented its theatrical production of The Wiz. Directed by Dextor Crawford, the musical was able to provoke several emotions from the audience, laughter in particular. The youthful cast sang and acted their hearts out without error, and was most deserving of an award as all scenes were well polished and without any hiccups. The Wiz is a theatrical adaptation of the 1900 children's novel Wizard of Oz, written by L Frank Baum and illustrated by W W Denslow. Following the book was a play and in 1939, the film version was released.
The Wiz tells the adventure of a young girl named Dorothy Gale who was swept away from her Kansas City home by a tornado and landed in the Land of Oz. There she befriended three characters: Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion and together they set out on a journey to find The Wiz, who would grant them their hearts desire. As Crawford explained: "The Wiz is a story of friendship that cautions us about placing our hopes in external persons and situation to solve our problems. The answer often lies within us, if we would just dig deep enough to find them. It teaches that we have the power to chart our own destiny and expose the bankruptcy of societal leaders and systems to effectively solve over problems."
It was hard to choose a favourite scene, but Dorothy and Scarecrow's soulful singing, and the humour derived from Addaperle's eccentricity or Evillene's vanity really made an impact. Adding to the quality of the play was the live band that provided music throughout all the scenes. At the close of the curtains it was clear that the audience got more than what they had bargained for.
