The Stage

The oddly-cast Wizard of Oz

Published Thursday 16 February 2012 at 15:29

Tabard couldn’t help being feeling a little bit, well, surprised (and baffled) by the casting of Russell Grant as the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz. After all, he replaces Michael Crawford, whose own musical theatre credits are vast, having appeared in The Woman in White and The Phantom of the Opera to name but a few. Now Tabard is no producer, but one would think Andrew Lloyd Webber would have decided to replace Crawford on a like-for-like talent basis - with someone who has similar theatre credentials, rather than someone who has found renewed fame thanks to a BBC dancing show.

Would Lloyd Webber have replaced Elena Roger in Evita with Ann Widdecombe, or Ramin Karimloo in Love Never Dies with John Sergeant? Probably not. Of course, Tabard has yet to see Grant manoeuvre his way through the part so will reserve judgement. But it did come as something of (another) surprise to read in one paper that Lloyd Webber has tweaked the show to “incorporate Russell’s unique dance moves”. Sorry, what? Unique dance moves? Unique - yes. Dance moves? Tabard didn’t see many of those. According to a review this week, one number now features Charleston and samba moves, especially for Grant. Well, it should be entertaining at least. But Tabard is still not convinced it’s enough to make another trip to Oz for. Sorry, Russell.