Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
Courtyard Theatre
Chicago, IL
Design Team
- Director: Brian Hill
- Lighting Design: Lee Fiskness
- Set Design: Scott Davis
- Costume Design: Theresa Ham
- Projection Design: Mike Tutaj
- Sound Design: Chris LaPort
Production Photos
Photo: Liz Lauren
Video Preview
Reviews
“Mike Tutaj’s vertiginous projections, Lee Fiskness’ dramatic lighting and Scott Davis’ set (including a dollhouse farmhouse that hurtles through the air with impressive velocity) make the iconic twister spectacularly destructive. The ensuing wonderful world of Oz is a barrage of color, from the crimson poppies dripping down like psychedelic rain to the Emerald City’s gleaming greens. With sound designer Christopher M. LaPorte, Tutaj and Fiskness collaborate to make the Wizard (William Dick, also marvelous as Kansas’ travelling fortune-teller Professor Marvel) seem truly great and terrible — at least until he’s unmasked as a humbug.” -Catey Sullivan, Chicago Sun Times
“Director Brian Hill paces this tight. Hill, along with his creative team Ham, Scott Davis (scenic), Lee Fiskness (lighting), Mike Tutaj (projections), Christopher M. LaPorte (sound), Richard Jarvie (wig & make-up design), Kenny Ingram (choreography), engage the audience in magical stagecraft. Assimilated tornado, a pasture of posies, monkeys flying, a witch melting are some of the cleverly devised techniques that keep the show dynamic.” -Katy Walsh, The Forth Walsh
“The show’s many magnificent, magical costumes are the creation of incomparable theatre artist Theresa Ham and her talented staff. All the whimsical wigs and makeup designs are by Richard Jarvie. Scott Davis’ creative, adaptable scenic design, beautifully enhanced by Mike Tutaj’s excellent moving projections, along with Lee Fiskness’ dazzling lighting plot, help make everyone’s journey from Kansas to Oz, and back home again, a beautiful, technicolor journey. A realistic-looking cyclone, chandeliers of corn cobs, a forest of talking apple trees, the poisonous poppy field and the witch’s watery meltdown are just some of the wonderful wizardry afoot in this spectacular production.” -Colin Douglas, Chicago Theatre Review
“There is an exciting and extremely efficient use of a broad pallet of projection (Mike Tutaj), lighting (Lee Fiskness), and sound effects (Christopher M. LaPorte) on the crisp scenic design of Scott Davis that together bring to life the mystical nature of the story. Combining live action and models to create the Kansas twister, an ingenious Yellow Brick Road, and the magical Emerald City, Hill’s “The Wizard of Oz” is barrels of fun.” Ed Tracy, PicksInSix