Review by Steve Desroches
As a child, the heroes and villains of The Wizard of Oz seem quite simple. Mean old Almira Gulch elicits immediate disdain with her grumpy frown and the iconic menacing music as she rides her bicycle to the Gale family farm to take poor Toto away and break Dorothy’s heart. But as we get older we see things in a different light. Toto did bite Miss Gulch after all and there are leash laws for a reason. And why the heck does Dorothy want to go back to Kansas so badly? It looks like it sucks. Wouldn’t it be better to stay and just hang with the Lollipop Guild? And of course the Wicked Witch of the West was pissed. Dorothy killed her sister and stole a fabulous pair of shoes, the Oz equivalent of Manolo Blahniks. If you share this bend on the Hollywood classic then hop on your broom and head on over to Art House for Witch, Please!, Sutton Lee Seymour’s summer offering that creates a twister of big laughs and powerhouse vocals with a fabulous and fun production quality.
Now a regular with a season-long run in Provincetown, Sutton Lee Seymour always brings a delightful energy to each show, the kind where you find yourself smiling from beginning to end. Firmly rooted in camp cabaret with Broadway as her guide Seymour repackages the days of the vaudeville hoofer for the 21st century. In Witch, Please! Seymour portrays the witches of Oz transforming from Miss Gulch to Glinda the Good Witch of the North to, of course, the Wicked Witch (arguably the best movie monster of all time), featuring Spooky and Zach as back up dancers portraying slutty Totos, flying monkeys, and more. With no fourth wall, the audience is picked up by the tornado along with Seymour landing firmly in an Oz where musical theater reigns supreme and everything is as gay as hell…just like the movie.
Jovial, high energy, and just the right amount of comedic wickedness, Witch, Please! is delightfully ironic in that it’s a show about being bad that makes you feel so good. With fantastic live vocals Seymour certainly revels in his ability to razzle dazzle. A standout of the evening is an original parody of “Alexander Hamilton” from the musical Hamilton in a genius homage to Margaret Hamilton, the actress who created the legendary Wicked Witch. The speed with which Seymour is able to change from character to character creates a drag tornado on its own as does her presentation of the entire musical Wicked in just five minutes. A popular headliner in Puerto Vallarta, Seymour made her Provincetown debut five years ago performing in a parking lot during the days of the pandemic. And now she’s become a beloved part of Provincetown’s storied drag scene…even if she is a total witch.
Sutton Lee Seymour presents Witch, Please! at the Art House, 214 Commercial St., Wednesday through Saturday at 8:30 p.m. now through September 13. Tickets ($35/$45) are available at the box office and online at rainboweg.com. For more information call 404.664.1736.
