OVER THE RAINBOW Curve

“There’s No Place Like Curve!”

There’s no story like The Wizard of Oz and no place like Curve Theatre to enjoy a brand new Made at Curve production of that very story this month. Here, we join the team for pre-costume rehearsals and speak with Artistic Director Nikolai Foster to find out why the team wanted to bring the land of Oz to the stage...

This month Leicester’s Curve Theatre brings to the stage one of the favourites of early cinema as Georgina Onuorah clicks her heels together three times and steps into the ruby slippers of Judy Garland’s iconic Dorothy in a new version of The Wizard of Oz. Here, Nikolai Foster tells us why ‘there’s no place like Curve...’

>> “We don’t tend to put on pantomimes at Christmas,” says Nikolai Foster, Artistic Director of Leicester’s Curve Theatre. “Ostensibly that’s because other theatres in the city host pantomimes so we like to offer something different, and that’s usually a musical production instead.”

This year, too, Nikolai agrees with my suggestion that I think we’ve had quite enough pantomime in 2022, albeit political rather than theatrical.

At a time when the skies are as grey and as foreboding as the suits in Westminster, and when all we hear on the news is political uncertainty and the cost of living crisis, we need something to bring a bit of colour to our lives instead, and what could be more colourful than the land of Oz with its glittery ruby slippers, yellow brick road and its equally colourful characters. It’s as if Nikolai and his team could have predicted the national mood, although as a production four years in the making, that’s not quite the case... it’s just a very happy antidote to the sort of national fractiousness that few could have predicted. “We must at least be shortlisted for having the longest pre-production period, having started to design Curve Theatre’s Wizard of Oz pre-pandemic,” says Nikolai. “Although that has given us time to hone it, and to consider it... and in doing so, to make it the very biggest, very best and the most colourful production we’ve ever created here.” “Our last winter production was 2021’s A Chorus Line, and it was incredibly well-received. All through 2022, as well, it felt as though theatre was returning to normal post-pandemic levels.” Curve, Theatre, Leicester Engaging with over 750,000 theatregoers a year and with a 900-seater main auditorium, Curve is managed by The Leicester Theatres Trust, supported by Leicester City Council and Arts Council England.

“The auditorium was full again, your voice no longer echoed in the place and there was once again a real sense of community, with our audiences right at the centre of it.” “Some months on and with both Christmas festivities and the cost-of-living crisis competing for our hard-earned cash, we’re more conscious than ever that we have to offer a really great production and provide real value.”

“We’ve worked closely with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group to bring this script and his musical score to Curve. That’s given us a superb bedrock for a great production, one with a narrative at its heart that everybody will be familiar with.” “And from that point on we’ve really been able to make the production our own with costumes, sets and a really wonderful cast and crew all helping to make the production something that the whole family can enjoy – from the age of five to ninety-five – at a time when we’ve never needed more the spectacle of big sets, big costumes and big songs that only live theatre can provide.” “We’ve taken the colourful look of Oz and moved the time in which the production is set a little further forward, to bring in a sense of 1950s Americana, with good reason.”>>

Above/Left: Jonny Fines will play Scarecrow; he’s pictured here in rehearsal, with his costume still due to be completed.

Christina Bianco will play ‘good witch’ Glinda... she’s traded in her magic bubble for a scooter, commensurate with the 1950s America ‘mise en scene’ of the production.

>> “We’re using America’s Route 66 in an allegorical way and we’re bringing into the production contemporary themes like consumerism and an awareness of ecology.” “In Act II we reach the Emerald City and encounter a sort of Devil Wears Prada meets Putin-esque Wicked Witch, with Charlotte Jaconelli in that role.” “Dorothy is played by Georgina Onuorah, and in casting we live for the moment when an actor walks into an audition and blows the roof off the room with their voice, vision and ideas for a role.”

“Georgina did exactly that and set out a compelling vision for her Dorothy. Listening to Georgina’s heart-wrenching rendition of ‘Over the Rainbow’ is worth the price of admission alone! Georgina leads an incredible company and we are proud to introduce her to audiences here in Leicester, as we prepare to journey up the fantastic yellow brick road together.”

“Our last really big production here at Curve was Billy Elliot and it’s impossible to overstate how well that went and what fantastic feedback we had, but necessarily the look of the production was pared back.”

“By contrast, here, we can turn up the colour of the sets, the songs and the costumes We’ve a 12-piece orchestra, along with our Musical Director and Musical Supervisor George Dyer, for a live soundtrack featuring about 20 songs, many of which will be familiar from the 1939 film, but with other tunes which will bring new songs and fresh appeal to a story that’s set to be both familiar and fresh at the same time.” “We’re even more conscious this year of the need to create a really spectacular show that represents great entertainment and great value for money for our audiences as well as two and a half hours or so of complete and joyful escapism!” “Curve Theatre opened in 2008 and it was set to bring in audiences of 750,000 a year. Whilst Covid prevented us from hosting the kind of shows that Made at Curve is capable of creating, 2019’s West Side Story, last year’s A Chorus Line and July & August’s Billy Elliot have given us the chance to show off what we’re capable of both as a venue and as a creative team.” “We genuinely believe that Wizard of Oz will be Made at Curve’s finest production yet: colourful, filmic and with amazing performances from a brilliant cast and dazzling production values.... exactly what we need this Christmas!” n

Even Toto receives a Made at Curve makeover!

Christmas at Curve Theatre...

n Dear Santa LIVE!

From the author of the well-loved children’s book Dear Zoo, Rod Campbell, comes Dear Santa and it’s LIVE! This show is an ideal introduction to theatre for those aged 2+ and who believe in Santa.

Thursday 1st Dec - Wednesday 14th December n Christmas Music by Candlelight

One of Britain’s very best choirs, Ex Cathedra’s Consort of 10 singers, returns to the beautiful church of St James the Greater with its popular Christmas concert. A seamless sequence of seasonal favourites, little-known gems and inspiring new music – with readings to make you reflect and rejoice – combine to create a deeply atmospheric celebration of this most wonderful time of the year.

Saturday 3rd December n The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Christmas Show

Four timeless stories brought to life in one delightful show. Dive into Eric Carle’s bright and colourful world as his beloved stories are transformed from page to stage using a menagerie of 75 lovable puppets and charming music. Featuring your favourite titles: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, 10 Little Rubber Ducks, The Very Lonely Firefly and of course, the star of the show, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Friday 16th December - Saturday 31st December

n The Wizard of Oz is coming to Curve Theatre as a special ‘Made at Curve’ production from Saturday 19th November to Sunday 8th January, tickets £10-£45, call 0116 242 3595 or see www.curveonline.co.uk.