The Performance Of The Wizard Of Oz Free Essay Example

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The Hidden Sorcerer of Oz

The name of the show is known as a popular classic that’s also in the film, or “The Wizard of Oz”. The book is authored by L. Frank Baum in the 1900’s and then adapted to film in 1937. The setting and the area it took place is in Rudder Auditorium at College Station, Texas, where Texas A&M University is approximately ten minutes away as walking distance. It is directed by Dean Sobont, choreographed by Amy Marie McClearly, one of the main actors of the show who played the girl in the production is Lauren L.

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Sobon. The staff decided to travel around for a bit and ultimately decided to perform at Texas A&M University in order for students to take a break from their studies and enjoy some forms of art on the sidelines. Most of the team there have at least 15+ years worth of experience in the theatre, more notably in Florida as well because that is where they usually perform at in the bigger cities such as Miami.

The story first took place on a farm in Kansas prairie until one day when Dorothy and Toto got caught up in a cyclone and then transported into the magical Land of Oz. That killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and the Good Witch of the North told Dorothy she has to see the Wizard of Oz get back home, this became the exposition of the play. On the way down the yellow brick road, Dorothy frees the Scarecrow from a wooden pole, applies oil to the Tin Can Man’s movable parts, and meets the Cowardly Lion.

Each wanted to see the Wizard of Oz for their own reason, so they journeyed along with Dorothy to Emerald City and went on many adventures on the road from there. Only to find out that the Wizard of Oz tasked them to kill the Witch of the West if they want his help, this is the rising action.Then comes the Wicked Witch of the West seeing the characters on their way to her lair through her telescopic eye and sent various creatures to hinder their journey or to kill them. Only for the creatures to killed off by the Scarecrow and the Tin Can Man except the Winkle soldiers fleeing due to the Cowardly Lion, that is the climax of the story.

In retaliation to that, the Witch summoned winged monkeys through the Golden Cap to capture the travelers, unstuff the Scarecrow, and dent the Tin Can Man. Then made Dorothy into her own personal slave when all she wanted were her Silver Shoes, this became the falling action. Dorothy killed the Wicked Witch with a bucket of water out of anger due to the Witch tricking Dorothy out of one of her Silver Shoes. This actually set the flying monkeys, and the Winkles free from the witch’s tyranny and fixed the Scarecrow and the Tin Can Man back to shape. Then Dorothy and her friends came back to Emerald City to see the Wizard of Oz, that is until it is revealed who he really is. Afterward, the Wizard gave the Scarecrow a “brain”, a Tin Can Man a physical heart, and the Cowardly Lion a medal. In all honesty, they already achieved these factors, it seemed as if they needed some form of physical proof for that, making it the resolution.

The main character is Dorothy along with her travel companion and dog, Toto. The girl who ended up in the land of Oz and had the goal to head to the Emerald City to ask the Wizard of Oz about how to return to her home in Kansas. Along the way to see the wizard, Dorothy runs into other characters such as the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow. Dorothy ran into and helped other characters as well while on her journey to see the Wizard of Oz. The same goes for the Tin Woodman who wants a beating heart, the Scarecrow who wants to procure brains for himself, and the Cowardly Lion who seeks courage, all have the need to see the wizard as well. Dorothy invites all three of the characters to join her on her journey.

Other characters that play a role in the series is the Wizard of Oz and the Witch of the West. Towards the end of the series, the Wizard of Oz is revealed to be an old man who came to Oz from Omaha through a hot air balloon. It’s a good and bad thing considered the Wizard of Oz is actually an ordinary old man mainly because of how you don’t know who he is in the middle of the story after Dorothy arrived in Emerald City first thing just to find a task by the Wizard to hunt down the Witch of the West to help her and her companions to get what they wanted. While the Witch of the West, for the most part, is bad in my eyes due to the fact that she had attempted to summon various animals and creatures to hinder Dorothy, Tin Can Man, Scarecrow, and the Lion’s journey as well as scheme to steal Dorothy’s silver shoes out of harm’s way, even by using winged monkeys to kidnap them. Only to be melted in the end by a bucket of water thrown by Dorothy.

The theme of the entire play is friendship, which is an important factor in life as well. Mainly because it’s hard to live without friends, and that you really can’t do really harsh goals and adventure out where it’s dangerous, that’s why friends are there as well to work together as a team and don’t forsake one another. That is when Dorothy befriended the Scarecrow, the Tin Can Man, and the Cowardly Lion in the process and helped along them on their journey towards the Wizard of Oz and to eliminate the Witch of the West and the creatures summoned by the witch. Such as when the Tin Can Man killed the pack of wolves with an ax, and as a “meat shield” against a swarm of black bees until they died out, helping the other three in the process as the Scarecrow hides the trio with his straw. Then the Cowardly Lion scared the Winkle soldiers away with its roar. This is something that involves teamwork and friendship, if the people were self-centered, then they wouldn’t be able to survive on the journey. That is why friendship is important and how it is a theme in this play.

The language of the entire play is English all the way throughout the play. The volume is just right to understand the actors followed by their character’s respective accent towards the English language. Such as the actor Tin Can Man, whose accent is a sharp and deep when Dorothy first stumbled across him and oiled his lips and limbs so that he can move. Followed by the actor of the Cowardly Lion, whose accent is first awkward and cowardly tone when introduced, while later showed an accent through bravery as the show progressed. The dialect of the play, however, took place in the United States, in Kansas first thing before moving into a fantasy related setting in a dream from my eyes after Dorothy woke up from that dream in Kansas.

The six figures of speech, verse, rhyme, metaphor, apostrophe, jest, and epigram has made works in the show through singing, and sometimes when characters communicate each other as well. It’s complex, to say the least, but I can say that the accents or apostrophes and rhymes took place since the 1900’s of the United States, similar to how Dorothy interacts at the beginning of the play and when she entered Emerald City. The entire jest was with the Wizard of Oz towards the end of the story as well, due to the fact that he’s just an old man in disguise. Examples of the epigram are when the Witch of the West saw Dorothy and the others on their journey to her through a scope and sent out various creatures to stop them, especially with the flying monkeys. The rest of the figures of speech as with verses and metaphors are mainly with any form of singing that takes place in the play, especially since our four protagonists are singing and dancing together in sync.

Music during the introduction of the show involves a lot of dancing and singing that have to be absolutely in sync at times with the other actors/actresses. One of which involves the people and the main characters upon the introduction at the gates of Emerald City, while the other involves the Witch of the West summoned her guards or creatures in the play in hopes to hinder Dorothy and the others. Some of which were similar to how Pinocchio performed and acted on stage in the play and in the film with the appearance of the Winkle soldiers that arrived at the Witch of the West’s location before they got sent to kill Dorothy and the rest. Either way, there is a lot of singing and dancing upon the introduction of characters and specific scenes such as Emerald City and while Dorothy is on a journey to a certain point.

The entire scenery from the usage of costumes, props, and action used during the musical was really on point and touching, especially since it’s done by the more experienced crew. One of which involves when Dorothy was on top of the Scarecrow and the Tin Can Man when they reached Emerald City to seek the Wizard of Oz and towards the end of the play to celebrate their success after obtaining what each character desired from the Wizard of Oz. Lighting, however, varies by the spotlight on certain characters and during the musical. One of which involves the beginning of the play when Dorothy lands in the Land of Oz, and the scene where Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Can Man, and the Scarecrow arrived at the doors of Emerald City, something which felt like the doors were shining as well with the lighting. The same goes for the scene where the Wicked Witch of the West attempted to release her creatures to kill or capture Dorothy, and her companions.

In general, this performance is amazing, even the entire story is very well-played and performed in the entire process. Despite that, it’s a really old fiction story that is still famous for its theme towards children. The only difference is between finding the goal and the journey towards that goal and why they seek certain aspects such as how the Cowardly Lion wants to become brave and accomplished it towards the end of the story. The musical seemed as if it took a lot of practice for the actors to be in sync with each other in both lyrics and dances which is a lot of effort and time it took. I liked this story, definitely would go watch this play again if I end up on a date sooner or later.