A touring stage production marketed as a family-friendly reimagining of The Wizard of Oz faced a strong wave of backlash after a December performance left audiences angry and walking out in large numbers.
The show, which was staged at Manchester’s AO Arena just days before Christmas, prompted refund demands and notable complaints, with many accusing the show’s organizers of falsely advertising the nature and spectacle of the production.
Audiences said expectations collapsed within minutes of the show starting
Image credits: Manchester Theatres
The production, titled The Wicked Wizard of Oz: A Cirque Spectacular, had promised a “brand-new, breath-taking Cirque staging” of L. Frank Baum’s classic story. Promotional materials encouraged audiences to expect a polished fusion of pantomime and circus, with the tagline “pantomime meets cirque – be amazed!”
As the show unfolded at the AO Arena, many attendees discovered that the performance didn’t resemble what was advertised at all.
Image credits: Visit Manchester
Michelle Radford, who attended the show, described her reaction bluntly. “It was atrocious,” she said. “I have never seen anything so bad in my life. We presumed it would be themed around the Wizard of Oz. We were wrong. We thought it would be like Cirque de Soleil, it was presented as a fantastic show. I am speechless for how bad it was.”
She added that visible chaos backstage made the show even worse. Crew members could be seen “running around like something was wrong,” and the overall show felt “more like an amateur production.”
Image credits: Manchester Theatres
“It wasn’t professional at all. It just wasn’t what I expected,” she continued. “There were a lot of people walking out before the break.”
“The munchkins were on stilts. The Wicked Witch was on a bike on top of a golf buggy. In the trailer, she was flying around. It was unbelievable.”
Michelle said she was still waiting for a response after requesting a refund.
Parents said adult jokes and simulated accents made the show uncomfortable and inappropriate for children
Image credits: Manchester Theatres
Several parents who attended with children said the performance’s content felt wildly inappropriate for a supposed family-oriented holiday show, according to The Mirror.
One anonymous parent, who brought her young children, said the production’s humor immediately raised red flags. “The jokes were not very good for the kids. They were making jokes about p*nises, about Donald Trump, the kids didn’t really understand them,” she said.
Image credits: Manchester Theatres
She added that the show failed to deliver what had been advertised months earlier. “We bought these tickets over six months ago because of what we saw advertised. It was not in the show. We have high expectations from shows at the AO Arena.”
The parent also criticized the use of accents and political references. “They were putting on Indian accents and making jokes about illegal immigration,” she said.
Image credits: Manchester Theatres
Another attendee, Liam Hopkins, echoed similar concerns, saying the tone often felt mismatched for the audience. “Several elements felt closer to adult holiday entertainment than a family-friendly pantomime, and some moments were awkward or inappropriate for an audience with children,” he said.
“You could sense parents quietly reassessing whether this was actually the right show for them.”
A theater producer who watched the show claimed that hundreds left mid-performance
Image credits: Visit Manchester
Bolton-based theater producer Tracie Ross attended the performance with her adult daughter and said she knew almost immediately that something was wrong.
“It started and there was no ‘Welcome to the show,’ no opening number,” she said. “It was two men picking up a load of boxes on the stage and balancing them.”
Image credits: Manchester Theatres
She criticized the visual presentation, saying, “The dancers’ costumes looked cheap and tacky.” One moment reportedly pushed her over the edge. “During the tornado, they came into the crowd and were shooting the crowd with water guns. After 15 minutes, I left.”
Later that evening, Tracie said she encountered a steward who appeared to be tracking departing audience members. “He said 800 people had left through that door alone,” she recalled. “It was just bad. I don’t understand how the arena didn’t vet the production before it came.”
Image credits: Manchester Theatres
Online backlash quickly followed. A Facebook group titled The Woeful Wicked Wizard of Oz – A Not-So Cirque Spectacular attracted hundreds of members, many of whom said they attended the Manchester performance or other stops on the tour.
Producers defended the show and rejected comparisons to Cirque du Soleil
Image credits: Manchester Theatres
In response to the growing criticism, producers The World’s Biggest Productions pushed back, saying the show had been misunderstood and unfairly compared to higher-budget productions.
A spokesperson said the show had previously received strong feedback elsewhere. “Wicked Wizard Of Oz opened in Blackpool to a fantastic response in October,” the spokesperson said, adding that promotional videos featured acts that appeared in Manchester.
The spokesperson added that the branding clearly positioned the show as a pantomime-style production. “The show title ‘Wicked Wizard of Oz’ has a smaller typeface descriptor ‘cirque spectacular’ and ‘panto meets cirque,’ which reasonably identified that circus elements would be included in a panto-style show.”
The spokesperson also addressed comparisons to Cirque du Soleil. “It was never suggested this was a Cirque de Soleil production,” they said, pointing out ticket prices ranged from £29 to £70. “When compared to (Soleil’s) prices… it would be unrealistic to expect similar production values.”
They concluded by defending the show’s humor, stating, “Our show, like all pantomimes, contains some jokes in the pantomime tradition of being silly… and if maybe 0.1% do not appreciate one joke in the show, it feels rather unbalanced reporting.”
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