Before Oz was one more Braeburn success

 By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 3.23.24)

It wasn’t imperative for students watching ‘Before Oz’ to first see the classic children’s film, The Wizard of Oz’ that premiered in 1939. But it might have helped them understand more about the characters once they reached Braeburn Theatre Gitanga where the musical was being staged last weekend.

For instance, it definitely would have helped them understand who the little man presented as the Wizard was supposed to be in the minds of Dorothy from Kansas and her broken friends who were stars of the MGM classic. They’d gone to see him since                                                                                                                                                      he was said to be practically like a god, able to heal broken souls and bodies. But Dorothy and her pals had quickly discovered Oz was just an ordinary man with an inflated ego, and a conman who had managed to generate fear among those who tried to come too close, using that big scary shrine (that we see in Before Oz) to keep his followers at bay. Oz was also the supposedly wise and wizardly guy that Glinda (Claire) and Elphaba (Ela) found but quickly realized he couldn’t help them either.

First watching The Wizard would also have helped students understand more easily who the Wicked Witch of the West was before she got really nasty (as in the film), unlike the sweet green-faced girl, Elphaba whose righteous rage at the injustices she saw compelled her to stir up storms and tornadoes and other uncanny disruptions. She had even been offered a job to work for Madam Morrible (Maya) and do her nasty bidding, but Elphaba refused. At the time, she and Glinda were still buddies, but Glinda was still very far from becoming Glinda the Good. She was still self-centered and jealous of Elphaba who had won the heart of the Fiyere (Asad), the handsome young soldier                                             who both girls are infatuated with.

Nonetheless, at the outset of Before Oz, Glinda projects her beautiful, sweet face to the people when she announces that the wicked witch is dead. What we discover before the end of the play is that Elphaba didn’t die by committing suicide as she made it look so she and Fiyero could slip away into oblivion where no one would find them.

Thus, the majority of Before Oz is a flashback, revealing a whole other story which (almost like an opera) is sung, with lyrics and music composed by Steven Swartch? for the 2003 premiere of the musical. Originally entitled Wicked, it was a show which earned millions from its box office success, and staged all over the States and overseas as well.

Glinda had apparently never planned to tell the story, but then one of her fans asks her if she ever knew the wicked witch. When she says she did, her fans looked slightly shocked, but before that becomes an issue, the flashback had already begun and the story has taken off.

One thing that is quite remarkable about these school productions is the way the director (who in this show was Pierce Williams) is able to get all 50 or so students up on stage when the main activity of importance is taking place between two, three or four characters. It wasn’t so difficult in Beyond Oz since the musical seemed to lend itself to lots of singing and dancing. It also helped to find an excellent choreographer like Maribel Larson who was able to set up fast-footed dancers (mostly girls, ages 10-12) in chorus lines. There they were quick to pick up the steps and styles of movement suggested by Ms Larson, so that what we the audience see is dancers adding smooth, swift momentum to the story line, while not weighing down the narrative.

The other thing about watching plays featuring youngsters from age 10 to 12 is how the director is able to spot talent when most kids may not have been on stage before. How she or he can be that perceptive is surprising, but in the case of selecting leads to play Elphaba and Glinda in Before Oz, Williams proved his value in his ability to pick Ela and Claire who were perfect in their roles. Apart from their not having well=trained voices for singing, they both understood their characters well.

The set design was also interesting as it operated on three levels. The main stage held most of the action while the second was a climb upstairs, and the third high above the audience, where Glinda the Good spoke up to her people.