by: John Rodriguez
From novel, to movie, to plays, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has seen numerous incarnations. Taking inspiration from L. Frank Baum’s popular 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Creators Mando Alavardo, Tommy Newman, and Jaime Lozano bring forth the latest incarnation entitled, “The Yellow Brick Road,” a kids’ musical that remains faithful to the source but gives it a little Latin flavor.
Told from a Mexican-American perspective, Dorothy now renamed Dora Inez Garza (played by Virginia Cavaliere) is a young Chicagoan girl who’s about to turn 15. And just like other Latina girls around her age, Dora is about to have a quinceañera which her mother (played by Lexi Rhoades) has planned. Unfortunately, Dora isn’t happy about it. The play shows how being of two different cultures, Dora is unsure of who she is and during one of the several numbers, “Way Out There,” Dora expresses her confusion.
Blending Latino culture and the Spanish language into the play, the play goes on to have Dora meet La Curandera (played by Natalie Toro), a folk healer, who sends Dora to follow el camino amarillo, the yellow brick road. Why? You’ll have to watch the play to see. Accompanying Dora on her quest are the typical stock characters seen within the original story given a modern and urban update. There’s Scarecrow (played by Ryan Duncan) who speaks a scrambled Spanglish, Tino (played by Frank Viveros) a walking food cart, and the pint-size Mountain Lion (played by Cedric Leiba Jr.) who help Dora along while avoiding La Bruja, the wicked witch (also played by Natalie Toro).
The show runs until August 19th and tickets are based on a first-come, first-served basis during an in-person pick-up at the Lucille Lortel Theatre Box Office (121 Christopher Street) on the day of the performance. If you do so, the tickets are FREE and there is a 4 ticket per person limitation.
