Why We Loved The Vivienne in The Wizard of Oz at Newcastle Theatre Royal

April 2024

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Living North followed the yellow brick road to Newcastle Theatre Royal to see Drag Race winner The Vivienne's take on The Wicked Witch of The West in The Wizard of Oz

A perfect puppet portrayal of Toto, a host of new music (including an entirely deserved solo for the Wicked Witch) and camp humour Judy Garland would have been proud of made this night at the theatre a dream come true.

Living North’s Arts Editor and Business Development Manager are huge Wizard of Oz fans and we quite frankly haven’t shut up about this production since its Newcastle tour date was announced (although one of us put the other to shame by turning up in ruby slippers). This musical, produced by Newcastle’s own Michael Harrison, takes all the best bits from the 1939 film and adds so much more.

We’re reading about the history of the story in our programme when the show begins and the orchestra fills Newcastle Theatre Royal with instantly-recognisable music. We find ourselves in Kansas where we’re introduced to Hunk, Hickory, Zeke, Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, Dorothy and Toto (along with Toto’s super-talented puppeteer Abigail Matthews). Puppetry means Toto has a real stage presence, even mocking The Wicked Witch of The West in act two, whilst Abigail’s clever movements mean his canine characteristics are always believable.

Dorothy is instantly a lovable character. Aviva Tulley has the sweetest voice with serious range and belts out a heartfelt performance of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, fully deserving of its applause, following a swift first appearance from The Vivienne (as Ms Gulch) riding a bicycle on and off stage (which can’t be easy in heels!). Not-so-subtle hints have been dropped by soon-to-be-Scarecrow Hunk, heartless Hickory (The Tin Man) and Zeke who is soon to offer us a hilarious portrayal of The Cowardly Lion. So if you’ve never seen the film or read the book – firstly, do, and secondly, it doesn’t matter because as the twister hits Kansas clever on-screen montages and set changes show Dorothy is dreaming before The Vivienne turns green and we find ourselves in Munchkinland.

From here on out, the set designers out-do themselves in this futuristic Land of Oz with perfectly modernised aspects of the much-loved story. We’re talking a Yellow Brick Road made of slalom-esque arrows, Glinda’s arrival on a pink moped and the elaborate costumes of the munchkins. When the ensemble aren’t seamlessly dragging the set pieces on and off stage, a screen with video game-style elements extends each scene, which proves particularly effective when the four friends (five including beloved Toto) reach Emerald City (which looks more like New York’s Times Square with its skyscrapers and billboards). None of this takes away from the new music, which has all the heart and humour you’d expect from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Benjamin Yates’s floundering Scarecrow has definite elements of Ray Bolger’s characterisation in the 1939 film, Femi Akinfolarin’s Tin Man is more modern with body popping and a rap, and Nic Greenshields as The Cowardly Lion is truly fantastic and oh so camp. Although the lion’s costume is by far the most modernised (complete with sportswear and trainers), we appreciate the nod to the film with the excessively long tail that somehow doesn’t get in everyone’s way. He revels in our laughter as her gears up his jokes. He’s ‘proud to be a friend of Dorothy’, if you catch his drift…

In an interview before the show, The Vivienne described her version of The Wicked Witch of the West as a ‘Bette Davis, Joan Crawford-esque kind of character’. We can see all that and more with certain elements of Anjelica Huston’s Grand High Witch in The Witches and Bette Midler’s Winifred Sanderson in Hocus Pocus, with enough of Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of The West to please us film fans.

Like with all those witches, you love to hate her. Special applause should go to Rachael Canning who created The Wicked Witch of The West’s costumes. Aside from Dorothy’s sparkling ruby slippers, which she’s unable to get her hands on, The Vivienne wins best-dressed in our eyes.

Distracted by a photo of Judy Garland in the screen set, we jump when The Wicked Witch of The West appears amongst the audience, broom in hand. But following a bit of help from Glinda at the Poppy Motel and a trip to Emerald City, The Vivienne’s time to shine is in act two. That’s when the set becomes even more extravagant, with huge green glasses concealing the identity of The Wizard and an extravagant black throne in Witch HQ which is where (spoiler for those who’ve lived under a rock) The Vivienne melts. She disappears leaving behind just her hat, cloak and (most importantly) broomstick – it’s the magic of theatre, we’ll say no more. It should also be noted that The Winkie Guards’ and flying monkeys’ costumes are perfect, whilst special recognition should also go to a thoughtful portrayal of The Wizard and Glinda’s (and quite frankly every member of the ensemble’s) seriously quick costume changes as Dorothy awakes in Kansas.

It’s true that there’s no place like home, but when the cast appear for the final time to roaring applause, we want to stay and dance along In The Merry Old Land Of Oz.