Tag: Christopher Parks

On Saturday, March 14, a quartet of highly animated and superbly talented actors brought to the Millwald Theatre stage a journey to Oz like nothing audiences had seen before. Designed primarily for children, this production of Journey to Oz, written and directed by Christopher Parks, delved deeply into the original text by L. Frank Baum and the inspirations the author drew from the world around him. The intimate 74-minute play made it obvious why The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its many sequels remain an important part of artistic culture more than 125 years later. This imaginative production takes place not in Kansas or Oz, but inside a library. There, four young adults discover Baum’s famous book. Opening it transports both the actors and the roughly 150 excited children in attendance directly into the story in real time. The staging is cleverly interactive. In the first chapter, the cyclone is brought to life with live wind effects, and the only way to stop the storm is for the actors to close the book. Moments like this made the audience feel as though they were inside the story themselves. Christopher Parks shines in multiple roles, including the Tin Man and a flying-monkey lawyer representing the Wicked Witch of the West. The witch places Dorothy on trial for causing a house to fall on her sister and for stealing her shoes. The production also offers some fascinating literary context. In Baum’s original story, Dorothy’s slippers are silver, not ruby—something audiences often forget because of the iconic 1939 film adaptation, The Wizard of Oz, which starred Judy Garland. The ruby slippers were added to showcase the magic of Technicolor. The play even includes humorous commentary about this difference. In the film, Dorothy is unable to relinquish her ruby slippers, but in Baum’s text she simply refuses to give them back. At the beginning of the play, Heffernan also portrays Dorothy. For the remainder of the evening, however, the role of the young heroine is shared by several girls from the audience—many of whom had already come to the show dressed as Dorothy themselves. Heffernan also appears later as the Emerald City doorman and as Glinda the Good Witch of the North. The superbly talented Rahsheem Shabazz proves to be the most effervescent member of the quartet, portraying the Cowardly Lion, Auntie Em, and the Wizard of Oz with side-splitting humor. His performance includes jokes that fly delightfully over the heads of the younger audience members but bring plenty of laughter from the adults. When one little girl playing Dorothy offers to become the Lion’s bodyguard, he quips, “Oh, I have a bodyguard—now I can be Whitney Houston.” Later, when Dorothy scolds him for his lack of courage, he laments, “I’ll never be a hero. Wakanda For-Never!” Christian Williams is also excellent, portraying the Wicked Witch of the West, the Scarecrow, and Uncle Henry. Among the many references used in the play are quotes from Baum himself, giving insight into how he created his beloved characters. Illustrator W. W. Denslow once suggested it would be amusing if a normally intimidating lion were portrayed with the cowardice of a kitten—an idea that helped shape the Cowardly Lion. The play also references Baum’s visit to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, where early motion picture illusions fascinated him and may have inspired some of the technological wonders described in Oz—innovations that would eventually influence the groundbreaking film adaptation more than four decades later. One especially memorable moment referenced a passage from Ladies’ Home Journal, which humorously suggested that a healthy dose of makeup shows visitors you care. In response, young Hollan Jones—son of my friend Dillan Jones—was brought onstage to paint the Wicked Witch’s face green. The improvisational skills of all four actors were particularly impressive. Their ability to incorporate unsuspecting audience members into the show made each performance feel unique. The children were remarkably knowledgeable about the original story and eagerly shouted out prompts when called upon, providing everything from Toto’s bark to the howl of the flying monkeys. One adult audience member chosen to portray the Mayor appeared unfamiliar with the story’s elements, but that did little to deter either the actors or the children, who remained enthusiastically engaged in every moment of the performance. Made up of performers from repertory theaters in New Jersey and Charlotte, this traveling troupe brings their original productions to stages large and small across the country. In addition to Journey to Oz, they collaborate on another production titled Grimmz Hip Hop Fairy Tales, which offers a modern twist on classic fables. If that production proves as much of a crowd pleaser in Wytheville as Journey to Oz did on March 14, audiences here will certainly look forward to hopefully welcoming this talented group back to our hometown very soon. I also want to thank the actors for including me in the production from the back of the house. I got to pat the head of the Cowardly Lion as he snuck up on Dorothy and her friends in the forest and cheer with the Tinman after Dorothy successfully melted the Wicked Witch. Despite being forty-one, I was grateful to be included on the imaginative fun. Journey to Oz proved the timelessness of both live theater and classic literature in spades. My thanks to the Millwald crew for inviting me and Jeremy Miller for getting me to this special event.