You’re out of the woods
You’re out of the dark
You’re out of the night
Step into the sun step into the light
Keep straight ahead for the most glorious place
On the face of the earth or the sky
You never know what this job is going to bring on the days we are able to go into port. Sometimes it’s planned (our trips to the various theme parks this contract were planned for example), and sometimes it’s not (exploring the night market in Cairns was not planned, brilliant, but unplanned); and then there are the days that are not only unplanned but that are so …perfect…that you couldn’t actually have had them work out better if you had planned them. Today? Was one of those days.
For ages I have been saying I need to take Amras to a real show, because theatre is such a huge part of my life and such a huge part of me, that not sharing it with someone close to me is something I cannot even comprehend. But this was something that I was thinking was going to be a long time in the future because even in our lines of work, there are some things you just never think you’re going to have time for.
This morning we decided to take the local ferry into Brisbane City Center instead of taking the free shuttle. Mostly because we felt like going on adventure and because we were rather tired of sitting on a bus with a whole bunch of other people. The ferry was lovely and refreshing as it zipped along the river, whipping our hair into our faces and blessing us with fresh cool air for what felt like the first time in a week (the ship’s AC has been on the fritz and this is a very warm area of the world). It took about an hour to get into the city, and the ferry dropped us off at South Bank, which was the opposite side of the river from where the shuttle would have dropped us but exactly where we had planned for as we had a vague idea of riding the Wheel of Brisbane that was basically next door to the stop. Deciding to at least explore a bit first we started wandering around the base of the wheel and found ourselves ambling past the Performing Arts Center, which – like most theatres around the world – boasted huge posters of everything that was coming to play in the new season. Those posters always wrench my heart a bit because they always seem to be starting the day after we’re in port, or they’re only running in the evenings, so we only glanced at the dates. Instead we went looking for lunch…which was when Amras pointed to the banner sign above the entrance to the theatre restaurant
Wizard of Oz? Wait…Andrew Lloyd Webber’s *new* production of Wizard of Oz? Oh my…
And that was all we really thought of it, a thing that sounded cool, and might be worth looking up later, but that’s about it…we went into lunch…and saw the signs noting “high tea on select matinees” ..and that the tea shop with those signs was open, which meant…
This is a theatre café right?
Yeah, definitely
So, what if they’re all here to see a show…that means there’s a show running..
The sign did say Wizard of Oz started Nov 4th…
Well wouldn’t that be awesome if we could catch it?
I blinked at him. I honestly wasn’t sure I had just heard what he said right, but he wasn’t joking! So we all but ran to the ticket office and – not holding our breath – asked if there were tickets for today’s performance. Keep in mind this was just about an hour before curtain.
And there were!! And they were actually good seats! Way up in the upper balcony, but close enough to the front that they were unobstructed and had a perfectly clear view of the stage – if a slightly distant one.
So instead of shopping, or exploring, or even going to the zoo, we went off to see the wizard!
And I heard real proper show music for the first time in at least a year. A full overture, finally. I think I would have paid full ticket price just for that overture. Overtures have an energy to them, they have brought me tears of joy since I was a child, and maybe that’s why they always will.
The show was brilliant, close enough to the original that you felt connected to it, while having enough that was fresh and new to keep you completely wrapped up in it. We laughed, we cried, and yes, a great many of us sang along (don’t worry, quietly). There were new songs added, but even though they were clearly a little more on the modern side, they fit well and worked with the characters who sang them. The leads that were playing Glinda and the Wicked Witch had both played those same parts in the Australian production of Wicked and you could tell, the woman playing the Witch had a powerhouse voice that could really only be an “Elphaba”. As for Dorothy herself, let’s say this: there were times – given the distance we were from the stage – that I had to remind myself that was in fact not watching Judy. Not because of her voice, her voice was very much her own, but because of the way she carried herself, her motions her character, somehow you could tell that this was a girl who was very much aware of the iconic status of the character she was portraying. And that is always always a good thing. Material that is so close to so many people is not easy to handle, and she did it masterfully.
With one song in particular of course, I can only imagine how much of a challenge stepping up to sing it must have been, Somewhere Over the Rainbow isn’t just a song, it’s a feeling, and it’s woven into entertainment history, even though it so nearly ended up on the cutting room floor. The little girl in me held her breath as Dorothy stepped up to the dirty farm-yard fence, in her cover-alls and pig-tails, and launched into the seldom sung verse. That song…that song means so much to so many…and it was wonderful to hear it done right. Really right.
The costumes were stunning, and included – as always – a few costume changes that I still can’t quite figure out (and in truth, don’t want to) and the use of projections for things like the twister and pieces of the flying monkeys were absolutely seamless.
They kept large pieces of the original choreography, including – much to my immense glee – the original dance for “we’re off to see the wizard” because after all, some things are so iconic that not including them would have seemed …wrong.
There were two dogs listed in the program as playing Toto. I’m not sure if that means that two dogs played that part each show or if they alternated, but whatever the case, the animals were beautifully trained and absolutely adorable. Since the audience was full of kids, the dog(s) also got almost more applause than Dorothy and the Witches.
I will never not need this. This will never ever not be a part of me. Amras mentioned later that I clapped extra hard for Dorothy…I didn’t realize I had done that. But he followed up that comment with something else
Of course you did…because you want to be her
And that is absolutely 100% true. On many levels. And I think it will always be true. And maybe I can’t go into that too much because I would start crying, but they would be good tears, so that’s okay too.
After we finished our journey to Oz, and I had purchased my ruby slippers t-shirt for my collection of show t-shirts (“shoes to die for”…as if I’m going to resist that, sadly the soundtrack album is only on amazon so it will have to wait until I am home to do on online order), we emerged from the theatre and went in search of food, a search which took us meandering through the rest of the city until we finally ended up back on the promande we had started from under the foot of the Wheel of Brisbane.
Let’s just see how much it is..
I said, thinking we had pretty much finished adventuring for the day
Okay.
And the next thing I know Amras is at the ticket window buying us two tickets. So we not only got to soar over Oz, but over Brisbane as well.
And at the very very end of the day, we found ourselves at a chocolate shop sharing one of the best ice cream sundaes I’ve ever had..
Yeah…I get paid to do this…
My life? My life is…currently leaving me speechless.