ACT Reviews 2022-2023 Season

the story moving at a pace. On the night I saw the performance, unfortunately Jenna Hornby was not well enough to perform and Cara Hey from the Ensemble stepped up to perform Guardian One with script in hand. Cara handled this with ease. The musical is very much in keeping with the original book and had all recognisable elements. It has very catchy tunes very upbeat and including some that seemed to be familiar to myself. The author is one I haven’t heard of before, but looking at the rights holder’s website, he has written several works. He is an author to check out if you’re looking for a production suitable for young performers Dorothy was performed by two young actresses, Molly Pickles in Act 1 and Katie Wellock in Act 2, it was lovely touch at the end of Act 1 when Katie appeared on stage for Molly to hand over the role to Katie by holding hands, and Molly then departed from the stage. Katie also played the Mayor. They both perfected their roles. This was Molly’s first ever lead role, and in fact her first ever production. As it was a large role, it was shared so as not to make Molly feel overwhelmed but at the same giving her lots of experience – this certainly paid off for Molly. During the performance it did not show to me that it was her first ever production, so hat’s off to Molly. I hadn’t known this fact at the time and was only told after. Aunt Em was performed by Amelie Bancroft, which was a small but equally important role. Toto was played by Mia Williams who bounced around the stage with flair. The trio Dorothy and Toto meet whilst on their journey via the Yellow Brick Road were believable and performed by Owen Roberts (Scarecrow), Edward Whittaker (Tin Woodsman) and Aaliyah Edwards

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