Lovers of The Wizard of Oz will not be disappointed by the outstanding production being held at The Coronado Playhouse, masterfully directed by Nick Reeves. From beginning to end, this timeless classic entertains and goes above and beyond the typical production by providing technically flawless sound, video imaging, special effects, dance ensembles, and high quality singing. The set is well done and colorful, and the costumes are beautiful, often matching the set at the time.

Dorothy is played by Hannah Rose Kornfeld and she is perfectly cast. She plays Dorothy with a nervous energy and a belting voice that suits the role very well. Toto is played by a real life dog which amazingly, seems to stay in Dorothy’s arms and obey her commands without problems. Even the dog was perfect. Brandon Alexander plays a superb scarecrow, capturing the easygoing charm and low-key helpfulness with ease. Don Evans shines as the Cowardly Lion, his over the top dramatics, fearful fits, and mournful singing fill the stage with the force of his personality. Gabe Lazard does a fine job as the mostly mental Scarecrow, and Mikel Taxer is very effective as the befuddled Professor Chester Marvel and Wizard of Oz. Chris Johnson and T Herman do fine jobs as in their dual roles of Witches of the West and South and Miss Almira/Aunt Em.

Many children were onstage acting as Munchkins and dwellers of Oz. They sang and danced various numbers flawlessly, lighting up the stage with their beautiful costumes and glowing energy. There were many musical numbers, it seems few were cut from the original score, which can make for a wee of a long show, but they were performed beautifully. Over twelve live musicians added to the quality of the show and the live music enhanced the singing of the actors. Overall an excellent show.

Ignore a little girl and she’s likely to get into all kinds of trouble. Remember Alice? Dorothy Gale (Hannah Rose Kornfeld), living in Kansas with her Aunt Em (Chris Johnson), Uncle Henry (Martin White) and dog Toto, has dog trouble with mean old neighbor Miss Almira Gultch (T Herman), a dried-up old prune with “friends in high places.” One of those friends has given her a court order to take Toto and send him across the rainbow bridge alone.

But even before they can run away, a tornado picks up Dorothy and Toto and sets them down on the road to the magical land of Oz, where ruby slippers, strange creatures and great adventures await. In honor of the film’s 50th anniversary, Coronado Playhouse presents the Royal Shakespeare Company version of the 1939 The Wizard of Oz through March 8, directed by Nick Reeves. Along the yellow brick road, Dorothy makes new friends in Scarecrow (Brandon Alexander), the Tin Woodsman (Gabe Lazard) and the Cowardly Lion (Don Evans). All three join her on the road to the Emerald City, where they hope the Wizard (Mikel Taxer) will provide what they lack – a brain for Scarecrow, a heart for Tinman and courage for the Lion – and then get Dorothy and Toto back to Kansas.

Kudos to the Playhouse for taking on the daunting task of mounting one of the world’s great children’s classics. The show requires many scene changes; Dahlia Barakat and Rosemary King’s clever, easily movable set pieces solved that problem in a basic but perfectly adequate way. Also required: scaling back the costume requirements to about 100 and the cast to 30, and re-orchestrating Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg’s wonderful score for a seven-piece acoustic orchestra (bravo, Erich Einfalt).

The Playhouse lucked out in the casting department, tapping Kornfeld, an enormously talented ninth-grader who recently arrived from the Bay Area, to play Dorothy. She’s got the looks, the poise and the voice to do it.

My other favorites are Alexander, whose Scarecrow has all the right moves, expressions and inflections (he also plays Hunk); and Johnson, who doubles up very believably as Aunt Em and Glinda. There’s something for everybody here: if you don’t like talking animals, watch for the swaying Trees; they’re a hoot. And if the story cloys a bit, listen to the wild and crazy lyrics like these, from the Lion: “Though my tail would lash/I would show compash to every underling.”

Kudos to Diana Valero-Olivier for her choreography, especially fun in the “Jitterbug” number. In fact, bravo to the whole production.

… Or, so one might think, as stars of stage and film are born across this country every day, this mighty little champion TAVISH (a Cairn Terrier) sidekick to DOROTHY, makes his stage debut as “Toto” (with his own understudy “Tashi” … also, a Cairn Terrier). But, there is more …

The Coronado Playhouse has mounted a delightful little-theatre production of L. Frank Baum’s classic WIZARD OF OZ, reliving the music and lyrics of Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, to go along (of course) with TOTO’s star debut!

In celebrating the film’s 70th year … one steps out of the woods, steps out of the dark, steps into the light…and steps over the rainbow, into the most glorious place on earth …the Land of Oz! One can understand, though, how a limited budget can affect scenery and costuming…how even 21-local ‘munchkins’ can charm and amuse you (with often funny unpredictable reactions on stage)…yet, the ‘stars’ of this OZ tale, are not limited to only TOTO, the pleasant surprise-of-surprises is to see and hear a 9th grader in the CoSA Program at Coronado High School Hannah Rose Kornfeld, as DOROTHY … as she whispers, talks, sighs, exclaims, even ‘gasps’ every word in script and song exactly like Judy Garland’s legendary film role. Hannah must have watched and studied little Judy’s film over and over again. One could close your eyes, and swear that Judy was up on that stage! Hannah sang out SOME WHERE OVER THE RAINBOW to everyone’s satisfaction! Of equal joy was to see and hear DOROTHY’s trio of friends Don Evans (as the COWARDLY LION), Gabe Lazard (as the TIN WOODSMAN), and, quite terrific, Brandon Alexander (as the singing-dancing SCARECROW) … his IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN was a delight! … Ditto, with Gabe Lazard (TINMAN) in IF I ONLY HAD A HEART, and of course, Don Evans (LION) in IF I ONLY HAD THE NERVE….always guaranteed a show winner!

Act II continued, perhaps, with one of the best staged musical numbers by Nick Reeves and Diana Valero-Olivier was MERRY OLD LAND OF OZ … everybody gets into the act … not the least of whom is, Martin White (as both early-on UNCLE HENRY and the EMERALD CITY GUARD) … who, all but steals the stage, whenever he spouts-off….a really fun character! With the support of a 12-member orchestra (off stage), other Act II favorite songs included LION (and gang) rendition of KING OF THE FOREST and DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD (following the best special effect of the evening…the ‘witch’ melting down and away on stage….got its own round of applause). It was so good to see the ‘Wiz’ namesake of WIZARD of OZ …Mikel Taxer (as the scruffy-behavior, but immaculately dressed WIZARD). Mikel Taxer (left) is fondly remembered (by this reviewer) for his outstanding role as the ‘Old Theatre Cat’ in ARCHY & MEHITABEL, starring none other than Barry Bostwick (as ARCHY), way back some 40-plus years ago…..can you imagine?

As we watched the actors stroll down the ‘Yellow Brick Road” (down the center aisle of the playhouse), one could appreciate the fun of T. Herman, as both Miss ALMIRA GULTCH, peddling her bike around the theatre audience, chasing the ‘star’ TOTO, or as the screaming WICKED WITCH of the NORTH. Good credit goes to the assisted directorial touches of Nicol Reeves and mime artist Judah Buxton.

Next up on the Coronado Playhouse hit parade, are Agatha Christie’s SPIDER WEB on April 17th-May 24th, the IT GIRL on July 10th – Aug 9th, Shakespeare’s HAMLET on Sept 11th – Oct 4th, and wrapping-up the Season will be Sherlock Holmes’ EXCELLENT ADVENTURE on Oct 30th thru Nov 29th. Now playing through Sunday, March 8th (with performances on Thurs/Fri/Sat at 8pm, and Sun at 2pm), tickets for THE WIZARD OF OZ can be arranged by calling the Box Office at …

(619) 435-4856, or going online at www.coronadoplayhouse.com.

Oh…yes…of some historical significance…the Coronado Playhouse is located only a few blocks away from WIZARD of OZ author Frank Baum’s residence, and the Del Coronado Hotel, where Frank Baum designed their wonderful chandeliers!