Off to see the Wizard

If you asked a random selection of people of English- speaking origin for a list of their favorite books, in all likelihood The Wonderful Wizard of Oz would feature in there somewhere. The movie would surely also do well in the most-popular-piece-of-celluloid- ever stakes. That all-pervading popularity element, and feelgood factor, will come through in abundance in the forthcoming rendition of the L. Frank Baum classic tale by the Jerusalem-based Encore! Educational Theatre Company. The current run of the show takes in six performances at the Hirsch Theater at Beit Shmuel, on January 10, 11 and 12 (7:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. respectively) and January 17, 18 and 19 (7:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.). As we all know, the tale of Dorothy, the girl from a farm in Kansas, and how she gets swept away by a cyclone to the magical Land of Oz, is shot through with colorful characters and enduring imagery. Set designer Roxanne Goodkin-Levy has, once again, done sterling work in producing props that evoke the sensibilities of the beloved century-plus old escapade and, naturally, has taken the monochrome-glorious Technicolor transition into account. Encore! and its perennial artistic director Robert Binder have pulled out all the stops to get the show on the road. In addition to the aforementioned sets and lavish array of costumes, the storyline will be conveyed by a 55-strong cast of all ages. The members of the indispensable behind-the-scenes team include choreographers Avichai Barlinski and Judy Brown-Davis, making sure the onstage action is properly orchestrated, while musical director Paul Salter will have an ensemble of instrumentalists at hand. When I popped along to Encore!'s home base in an industrial building in Talpiot, which, unfortunately, the company has to vacate in the near future, Binder, who doubles and trebles as chief cook, bottle washer and general handyman, was clad in an apron and clearly had his nose to the theatrical grindstone. To his left I spied an eye-catching pair of red shoes with high heels and sequins, referencing the magic pair that feature in Baum's novel, which came out in 1900 and sold more than three million copies before it entered the public domain in 1956. Dorothy came to possess the shoes from the Wicked Witch of the East, and they provided her with her passport back home to Kansas. The original footwear was silver, but certain allowances had to be made to get the visuals across. The hue change is not, mind you, a Binder initiative, and has its roots back in Hollywood. “For the film, because of the Technicolor, they turned the silver slippers into the ruby slippers,” Binder points out. “That registered much better on the screen.” The same, presumably, will apply to the Hirsch Theater stage next week. This is not the company's first bash at the Baum classic. “We produced it nine years ago. It was one of the first productions by Encore!,” Binder recalls. “It was very successful then, but we've grown tremendously since then and we thought it would be a great treat for children of all ages. We are all children. This story touches the child inside all of us.” Binder was a child in chronological terms too, when he first encountered Baum's book. “I remember I had my tonsils out – I was about eight years old; I started reading The Wizard of Oz while eating ice cream. I was taken with the story straight away.” His childhood powers of imagination were, of course, helped along by watching the celebrated 1939 bigscreen adaptation of the tale, starring Judy Garland in her most memorable role. For Binder, staging the story in Jerusalem is the fulfillment of a long-held dream, and also the perfect vehicle for the cross-generational actor lineup, and should appeal to similarly generationally varied audiences. “The material is suitable for a cast of mixed ages. This is ideal. Everybody has an opportunity to do something in the show.” That certainly applies to the younger crowd, with the lead roles of The Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow all filled by 11th grade students. Miri Fraenkel, a veteran of several Encore! productions, plays Dorothy, with her aforementioned comrades played by Yakir Abelow, Dvir Schler and Sraya Goldstein respectively. Goldstein was around the same age as Binder when he encountered the magic of Baum's tale. “I think was around seven when I saw the movie for the first time,” says the 16-year-old. He was drawn to choreographed action and music. “I liked the dancing and the singing,” he notes. “It was fun. It was pretty and exciting, and it was probably one of the only five movies I saw back then,” he adds with a laugh. “We watched the musicals over and over again – like Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and The Wizard of Oz. Presumably, half a lifetime ago, Goldstein had no thoughts of eventually taking part in a staged version of his childhood favorite. “I didn't think about that back then, but I'm really excited now,” said the teenager on a break from a rehearsal. “It's an honor to have a part in this classic. It's fun and it's great. It's cool because everybody knows The Wizard of Oz, and everybody really likes it. You know it's going to be good.” Judging by Goldstein's unbridled enthusiasm, and if Binder, Goodkin-Levy et al. have any say in the matter, it surely will. Although Goldstein happily auditioned for the Scarecrow slot, he says he would have gone for any role that involved shaking a leg. “I was drawn to any part that involved dancing,” he says. “The Scarecrow was always falling apart and jumping up and down, and I really liked that.” He says the role is just an extension of his everyday antics. “I basically do that all day long anyway,” he chuckles. “Now I feel more connected to the Scarecrow.” Goldstein says he also connects with the universal messages inherent in Baum's work, particularly the sentiments conveyed through the organs that Dorothy's pals so sorely miss and need. Goldstein's character would really like to have a brain, while the Tin Man could do with developing a capacity for emotional expression by getting hold of a heart. “You need a heart to be nice,” Goldstein observes. “There's nobody who doesn't actually have one. Each character has his thing that he feels that he's missing, but anybody has the capacity to find them. I like that.” The 16-year-old Scarecrow says he can't wait for opening night. “Everybody loves this story. It's such a colorful story, even in your head. It's not just the film – the color comes through when you get to the Land of Oz.” Binder is similarly enthused. “It's such an imaginative tale. It has such a heart to it. It appeals to everyone,” he says. “When the wizard finally delivers what he's asked for – a brain for the Scarecrow, a heart for the Tin Man and courage for the Cowardly Lion – they are, of course, things they have had all along, but they couldn't discover them on their own. Through the adventure we find out what they really have inside.” Sounds like there may be a lesson in there somewhere. The English dialogue will be complemented by Hebrew subtitles. For tickets and more information: www.Encore-etc.com and 054-578-9006.

Off to see the Wizard

Dorothy follows the yellow brick road to the Emerald City with her friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, in the Encore! production.

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Off to see the Wizard

Dorothy follows the yellow brick road to the Emerald City with her friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, in the Encore! production.

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