‘Wiz’ rendition has murky plot

The fast-paced disposition, vibrancy and thunderous effects of last weekend's production of "The Wiz" provided stimulation, but did not clearly execute the plot of the play.

Directed by drama department Chairman Clay David, the Knox Center production differs from the original play, which was a '70s musical based on the 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz."

This time, however, Dorothy resides in Richmond, Calif. and rides a magical BART train along the Richmond yellow line.

The play begins as Dorothy receives the award for 2010's Most Outstanding Student in the East Bay at the Oakland Civic Center.

A lusty BART information officer named Janet sits in her office at the side of the stage and narrates from there on.

While returning home from the MacArthur BART station with her Aunt Em, a Richmond Kaiser nurse, Dorothy's train manages to get swooped away in a colorful tornado surrounded by neon-colored munchkins resembling little clowns.

As soon as Dorothy enters Oz, the costumes become wonderfully vivacious, from the colors to the obvious attention to detail in the fabric.

The Tin Man and his robot dog Text were two examples of the great care put into costume design, with silver apparel so magnificently shiny and sparkly it nearly blinded the audience.

David's rendition of the musical retains much from Charles Small and William F. Brown's 1970s version, aside from changes in dialogue and music.

A lack of energy persisted in the singing and choreography from the beginning of the play up until the Tin Man and robot dog's number, where hip-hop influenced dance moves erupted out of the cast and an auto-tuned style rap riled the crowd.

Although Dorothy, played by young actress Alexis Woodson, struggled at times to hit high notes in her solos, she had an endearing characteristic of innocence that made her vocals delightful.

But it was the wannabe-gangster Lion, troubled with "schizophrenias" from his mother, who stole the show.

Dawaun K. King truly immersed himself in the character with his loud, ferocious growls, yet maintained an apprehensive demeanor while skillfully playing off the other characters.

The unexpected use of pyrotechnics blew away the theater-filled audience. Each time the fireworks or strobe lights blasted from the stage was craftily planned to shock the crowd, most notably with the demise of the Wicked Witch of the West.

As astounding as the visual effects were, they did not help to execute the plot of the production. The duration of the play was only an hour, which proved too short to translate any sort of message.

Making the play longer to enhance the plot would have made it an overall better theater-going experience. 

Contact Alexandra Waite at awaite.advocate@gmail.com