STAGE REVIEWS : ‘THE WIZ’

In Cypress College’s version of “The Wiz,” that funked-out, originally all-black metamorphosis of the classic “The Wizard of Oz,” the yellow brick road is no longer a road, but rather a group of dancing curiosities sporting yellow Afros, yellow vests and canes.

This human (or at least humanoid) escalator indicates either that director Kaleta Brown has: (a) brought a refreshing blast of imagination to this almost too-hip musical or (b) has gone a little overboard. Actually, it’s a little of both with an emphasis on the former. Brown, with the help of her production team, has filled this jive-talking, strutting Oz with a menagerie of interesting and peculiar sights that often challenge the audience to decipher them.

Most of the innovations work--turning the imperious Wiz into a Prince clone and having dancers all in black and waving silver streamers to simulate the tornado (choreographer Stacie Finn gets some credit here) is shrewd showmanship. But some of it doesn’t click: The yellow brick road is just too strange, and the seductive, bumping and grinding poppies, even with their green costumes, don’t look anything like flowers.

Still, Brown’s inventiveness in the staging is the show’s biggest plus. The minuses, unfortunately, can be found across the board in uneven singing and acting and in clumsy scene transitions that often leave the performers standing uneasily about.

Only Donna Kay, as Dorothy, seems to approach mastery of her songs--she is an often potent singer--but even so, there are moments of indecision in her delivery. Her acting, however, is shallow; Dorothy reacts to most situations with either whiny exasperation or smiling, can-do spunk. Mathew Robert Arietta as the heartless Tin Man and Prentis Bonds Jr. as the Cowardly Lion have powerful voices but tend to waver on the high notes. Both are effective actors, though. Bonds’ king of the jungle--a character so neurotic that he has to visit his owl psychoanalyst three times a week--is especially disarming. Stacie Finn as the Scarecrow presents the most able characterization, but she is hampered by a weak voice. With his Prince pompadour (dyed Emerald City green) and preening manner, Dennis Coppens is an original and often delightful Wiz.

“The Wiz” continues through Sunday at the Cypress College Campus Theater, 9200 Valley View St., Cypress. For information, call (714) 821-6320.