Wizard of Oz flies at Festival Place

One of the great ironies of the film industry is that the 1939 film fantasy, The Wizard of Oz, was originally considered a box office failure.

Notable for its special effects, Technicolor, fantasy storytelling and unusual characters, it was MGM’s most expensive production and it failed to recoup its initial investment.

But L. Frank Baum’s story connected with generations of audiences and has since become a Christmas staple for theatres across the continent.

This holiday season Festival Players from Sherwood Park are banking on the musical’s popularity to mount a 13-day run at Festival Place from December 16 to 23 and 26 to 30.

Director Norm Usiskin believes Baum’s story has as a deep-rooted appeal that touches most people.

“People like adventure and this is a fantasy world with a talking lion, tin man and scarecrow. There’s an element of magic and people are drawn to the possibilities of finding something different.”

Usiskin, a Spruce Grove teacher, sits in the director’s chair through a fluke. Richard Winnick was originally on board to direct and Usiskin was his assistant.

But Winnick passed away during the summer. The Festival Place board of directors asked Usiskin to take over, and at first he was hesitant. It was a huge job with a cast of 51 actors and one live dog.

“But because Richard and I had done a lot of the prep work, I decided to do it as a tribute to him – kind of finish the job we started.”

St. Albert’s Josh Languedoc is starring as the Cowardly Lion, former St. Albert resident Judy McFerran has nabbed the role of Glinda the Good and St. Albert teacher Lucy Haines is in the chorus.

Languedoc, 24, a sociology graduate from MacEwan University, is in the throes of writing a social play on Neil Stonechild, a 17-year-old Saskatchewan aboriginal. While drunk, police picked him up on a winter’s evening, drove him out of town and left him to die.

“It’s about what the family went through and how the case was reopened,” says Languedoc.

Although the case lay dormant for about two decades, it was reopened and evolved into a textbook case for racism.

“I’ve never been able to forget it. Part of it is because I’m aboriginal. Part of it was that I couldn’t believe someone who was supposed to protect people clearly showed such a deep-rooted racism.”

But the role of the Cowardly Lion role gives him a break from his serious side, and allows him to display a natural goofiness and comedic timing he’s honed over the years through improv.

No stranger to lion roles, Languedoc played Aslan during St. Albert Children’s Theatre 2006 production of Narnia.

“Aslan was godly, worldly, a spirit of Narnia. I saw him as the eternal energy. The Cowardly Lion instead is neurotic. He confuses fear with wisdom. He’s a victim of his own people. He’s supposed to be aggressive and brave. But he’s cautious and is ostracized by his own people. He’s a little bit on the shy side. He’s a follower.”

The Wizard of Oz was one of Languedoc’s favourite childhood stories and it was a dream of his to play the Scarecrow originally popularized by Ray Bolger.

“But once I read for the lion, it was a better fit. It uses my strengths – comedic timing and the way I can go big and get physical. If I was Scarecrow I wouldn’t have as much fun.”

This production is the full meal deal with flying witches and monkeys courtesy of ZFX Flying Effects.

Usiskin adds, “This is a story that’s done in a way that we’re sure people will be happy with.”