Beloved ‘Oz’ characters head down Henderson’s Yellow Brick Road

Toto is not speaking to the press.

He's an artist. This is his craft. One must respect The Process.

"Toto is a total method actor," says his director. "He gets into a zone."

Well, la-di-da-and-a-half. Yet on this rehearsal night on the cavernous Henderson Pavilion stage, looks like Toto -- aka, Cheeto, a chihuahua-terrier mix straight from central casting at the Nevada SPCA -- can't help stepping on everyone's lines. Movement of any sort seems to set him off, especially when the Munchkins dance and prance around Dorothy, from whose arms Toto yips and yaps (and even growls) incessantly.

"Keeping him calm, that's the challenge," says Carly Richardson, aka Dorothy, who'll tote Toto around for 90 minutes every performance, more than was ever asked of Judy Garland. "Most of the time he'll be in my arms or offstage."

Toto even out-barks the Wicked Witch, now more motivated to get Dorothy -- especially, her little dog, too. "(We've) been talking about how we're going to prevent being upstaged by the dog," says Ellen Lawson, aka Ms. Wicked. "Maybe a little doggie muzzle."

Hannibal Toto? Not quite the "Wizard of Oz" spirit. "We're working on solutions," director Dan Decker says about the pooch, whose onstage movements are assisted by a laser pointer.

"We'll have to get him to chill."

All part of the rehearsal process in the merry old land of "Oz," being staged by the Las Vegas Shakespeare Company, on break from thee-ing and thou-ing.

"This is the stage version of the movie version of the book," Decker says. Well, mostly. "We play it sincere and straight up, but we're putting a little spin on it for the adults. In the tornado scene, when it's whipping around, instead of guys in a rowboat, a shrimp cocktail goes by."

Relax, "Oz"-ophiles. Everyone and everything's here, including the enitre "Oz"-ian oeuvre: "We're Off to See The Wizard," "Over the Rainbow," "Ding Dong, the Wicked Witch is Dead," "If I Only Had a Heart" (plus a brain, plus "da nerve"), among others.

"When you listen to the orchestrations, it's one of the most difficult things to play," says musical director Bill Fayne, who'll conduct a 15-piece ensemble. "The cyclone with the woodwind parts and the flute and the violin parts" -- he launches into a high-pitched TRILLLLLL. "It's very busy and very beautiful. When I really got into the score, it was joyous."

Inventively, this "Wizard" is leaning on technology for a multimedia production that's half-video/half-stage show. Why?

Be-cause, be-cause, be-cause, be-cause, be-CAUSE, because of the wonderful things technology does, reducing the burden of full-fledged sets, replaced by less cumbersome stage props.

"We don't ever want to stop the show to change a set," Decker says. "We want it to have a cinematic flow."

Rear-projection video, with the aid of digital computer graphics,will re-enact boffo moments such as the cyclone, the balloon ride, the poppy fields and the flying monkeys.

"We used a 3-D program," says video producer Adam Courrier. "The tornado comes spinning in, all the particles blowing. And I'm excited about the balloon. It's like it was snatched right out of the movie. It's going to get kids excited."

Actors also have been integrated into sequences, such as a towering, glowering Wicked Witch eyeing her merry prey. "There was preproduction in front of a blue screen," Courrier adds, "then we keyed them out, composing them over our artwork."

Bulging with a 61-member cast -- including 19 children and three little people as Munchkins, plus four developmentally challenged clients of Opportunity Village playing Winkies, soldiers of the Wicked Witch's army -- "Wizard" remains the tale of our heroes: Dorothy, The Tin Man, The Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion (and yes, Toto/Cheeto who, can be adopted after the show ends its run).

"When we were doing it, I remembered every scene and I didn't expect it to be so deep-rooted," says Cory Goble, aka Scarecrow, adding that "Oz" is more cutting-edge than its classic status suggests. "We have (movies) like 'Inception,' but here is all this dream interpretation, and this is around 70 years ago. They knew what they were doing."

Onstage, Goble, Richardson and Darren Weller (Tin Man) run the scene in which they encounter the soon-to-be-exposed-as-cowardly lion. Stepping into the paws of Bert Lahr, actor Benjamin Loewy raises his fists and speaks the line Lahr memorably rendered as, "C'mon, Put 'em up, put 'em uuuup!" as if he hailed from the Flatbush section of the Enchanted Forest.

"There is a little Bert Lahr but it's hard to escape such an iconic role without the audience judging a little," Loewy says. "I'm trying to find a happy medium. Maybe I can put emphasis somewhere else, like: 'Put 'em UP, put 'em UP!' "

Physically, onerous moments belong to Weller. Examining his costume -- Tin Man's barrel-shaped, steel rib cage -- his face registers a hint of chagrin.

Dude's gotta dance in that contraption. "I've got the only dance solo in the show, and it's really heavy," he says in his native Australian accent that will be Americanized for his performance. "I even have to do a little soft shoe. Things like this have to be solved."

One that won't? Reining in Lawson's performance as the green-hued baddie on the broomstick. "It's really a blast," she says. "You can go as big as you want. I've never played a role that allows me to chew the scenery. It's the widest, most open thing I've ever done."

Back onstage, assistant director/choreographer Louisa Lemos doubles as a crowd-control cop, wrangling all the Munchkins to scamper around Dorothy. Toto yelps his canine guts out as Lemos lets slip a smile, rueful as it is amused.

"We should put money on it -- which is easier to get through this production with, the kids or the dogs?" she jokes. "I have a very high-pitched voice, that's the only way I can get through to them."

Sweet disposition notwithstanding -- he's angelic cradled in Richardson's arms on a break -- Toto/Cheeto isn't giving the director what's needed for this scene, freaking out at members of the Lullaby League and the Lollipop Guild.

Perhaps if they wrote him into a musical number?

"I'd be docile as a kitten; and no one would get bitten; and I'd be 'in the zone'"; "I'd pretend I was Toto; and I'd even pose for photos; if I only had a bone."

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.