People came to the Robidoux Resident Theatre production of 'The Wizard of Oz' last weekend knowing what they wanted to see. Luckily, the minds behind the production knew what they needed to do, and the result was an experience at the Missouri Theater that combined a few firsts with a familiar musical.

Kudos go to the casting of this play, with each actor nailing the nuances from the memorable characters to the point of mimickery.

Even though director Jeff Haney said they tried not to mirror the characters exactly, it was hard to see it. Adrienne Collins did was spot-on in replicating Judy Garland's Dorothy, while doing a very respectable job of making the iconic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" her own. Gene Newman captured the Scarecrow's clumsy, straw-filled walk and loose-limbed movements. Sean Connors was understated by comparison as Tin Man, whose excellent play on the heartless metal man only amplified Newman's calculated bumbling.

Two stand-out performances that came from this particular production. First being Shaun Agnew as the Cowardly Lion, costumed like an oversized stuffed animal and the lovable nature to match. Of course, he occasionally got upstaged by his own stiff tail, which whipped around like it had a mind of its own and was responsible for a few good belly laughs (most notably when trying to sneak in as one of the Wicked Witch's guards).

Speaking of the Wicked Witch of the West, Connie Willis was simply amazing in the role, with her hunched posture and unmistakably chilling laugh. Even when she was finally vanquished via bucket of water (it was glitter in the production), the audience was sad to see her go.

But no matter who was playing the roles, it was almost upstaged by the special effects. And by special effects, I mean the people responsible for all of the flying.

Whether it was Dorothy getting swept up in a tornado, Glinda the Witch of the North (played by Ashley Dougan) flowing in for a visit or the Wicked Witch gliding across the stage on her broomstick, nearly every flight was met with some sort of applause.

There were other special effects of course. Like the Wizard of Oz, whose flaming green orb from the movie was represented by a projection of an old man's face on a green screen. Not exactly amazing, but it got the job done.

Then there was the ending, when Dorothy clicked her ruby slippers together to go "no place like home" and numerous red blinking magic wands given to random audience members were turned on. This would have been a lot more effective if they could afford to give all of the audience a wand, but it's community theater and the flying system cost five grand. If I had to choose, I'll take the flying.

The play had a built-in audience due to the movie's popularity, but the cast and crew showed great execution. The sets (especially the colorful Munchkin City) did a great job of transporting the audience into the familiar friend of a story. The musical numbers got the crowd instantly jovial, even clapping along with "We're Off To See The Wizard," by the end of the Act II.

It turned into one of the more enjoyable theater experiences one could ask for. So what if it was fueled mostly on movie imitation. Somethings don't need tampered with and the "Wizard" is one of them.