‘An insult to the industry’
The Wicked Wizard of Oz: A Cirque Spectacular at the AO Arena(Image: Michelle Radford)
Disappointed theatre-goers say they are now seeking refunds after slamming a ‘panto-esque and amateurish’ performance of the Wizard of Oz.
Several hundred customers are understood to have walked out of the ‘atrocious’ Wicked Wizard of Oz: A Cirque Spectacular at Manchester’s AO Arena on Tuesday evening (December 23). Beforehand, it had promised a ‘brand-new, breath-taking Cirque staging’ of Frank L. Baum’s iconic story, boasting ‘pantomime meets cirque – be amazed!’
But instead the show has been hit by a raft of complaints from customers who say they were left ‘disappointed’ by the performance. The Manchester Evening News has spoken to a number of people who were at the show.
Michelle Radford, from Bury, said: “It was atrocious. 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.”
Michelle said those working on the props could be seen ‘running around like something was wrong’, she described the acts as ‘more like an amateur production. “It wasn’t professional at all. It just wasn’t what I expected. There were a lot of people walking out before the break,” she added.
She said she would usually go with two friends to see a show at the theatre every year around Christmas time. One of her friends said they should leave at the break, but Michelle wanted to see what happened.
“When it came back on there was a lion dressed as a tiger walking across a tightrope. It was very, very basic, not the ‘spectacular’ event it was supposed to be. It was dreadful,” she said.
“If we wanted to go and see a panto, we’d have gone to see Jason Manford! At least you know what you are going to get. The tinman was in a Transformers costume. Toto was a sheepdog. It was laughable. It was such a disappointing night. It was false advertising.
The ‘wicked witch’ during the Wicked Wizard of Oz show at the AO Arena(Image: Michelle Radford)
“I’m asking for a refund, but I haven’t had a response yet. It was an absolute shambles. 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.”
The organisers of Wicked Wizard of Oz have defended their show following the complaints – pointing out that the reception to previous shows in Blackpool had been ‘fantastic’. They also added the show contains some jokes in the pantomime tradition of being silly and “maybe 0.1% do not appreciate one joke in the show”.
But another customer, who asked to remain anonymous, said she had brought her two children aged 12 and 9 to the show. They said: “We had a high expectation, it was not really what the Wizard of Oz was about. The jokes were not very good for the kids. They were making jokes about penises, about Donald Trump, the kids didn’t really understand them.
“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. They were putting on Indian accents and making jokes about illegal immigration.”
Liam Hopkins was also at the show. He said: “Like many people, my expectations were shaped by how the show was marketed, particularly the implication that it would be in the style of Cirque du Soleil. When something is sold that way, you expect to be blown away in a good sense, not sitting there with your head in your hands wondering what you’re watching. What we saw didn’t really align with that promise.
“The show opened with large, branded storage boxes already on stage, which immediately set a very different tone to what had been advertised. From there, 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. You could sense parents quietly reassessing whether this was actually the right show for them.
The Wicked Wizard of Oz: A Cirque Spectacular at the AO Arena(Image: Michelle Radford)
“While there was effort and enthusiasm from the performers, the overall staging, choreography and pacing lacked the scale and polish you’d associate with a cirque-style spectacle. The reaction in the room reflected that. I filmed a short clip simply to capture the atmosphere — the moment when it became clear that expectations and reality had parted ways. It wasn’t about singling out individual performers, but documenting the overall experience.”
Tracie Ross, a theatre producer from Bolton, had gone to the show with her adult daughter. She said: “I support local theatre and have been going to the theatre all my life. It started and there was no ‘welcome to the show’, no opening number, it was two men picking up a load of boxes on the stage and balancing them. It just didn’t hit. The dancers costumes looked cheap and tacky.
“During the tornado, they came into the crowd and were shooting the crowd with water guns. After 15 minutes I left.”
Tracie said that after returning later to collect her car, she spoke with one of the stewards who was using a ‘clicker’, which he pressed when people left. “He said 800 people had left through that door alone. It was just bad. I don’t understand how the arena didn’t vet the production before it came,” she said.
“At a time when venues are struggling to sell tickets and filling venues, you would think they would vet what’s coming in to the arena. I’m so disappointed. It is an insult to our industry. You go to see a Christmassy show and expect to come away feeling like you enjoyed it, and it just didn’t happen.”
Customers were left ‘disappointed’ following the show at the AO Arena(Image: Michelle Radford)
A Facebook group titled The Woeful Wicked Wizard of Oz – A Not-So Cirque Spectacular has since been created where hundreds of customers who attended the Manchester show, and other venues across the country, have made their feelings known.
Katie Sweet said: “Got to say, this was the point where I was in utter disbelief with what I was watching! A ‘cirque’ and yet the wicked witch of the west isn’t flying yet she is on the top of a golf buggy, not concealed to make it look like a cloud or blacked out just blatant rubbish!
“My 10-year-old, who was obviously going to compare this performance to the recently released movie Wicked, was completely lost, bored, asked to leave and never laughed once, maybe due to the wholly inappropriate jokes…the glory hole…I have never cringed so much, how can they think that is appropriate or remotely funny.
Jorden Thompson commented: “Went last night seven of us, what absolute c*** was that! Definitely not what was advertised, and we all left. So poor my children could have done better than that. Definitely not AO arena worthy or worth that money. Email of complaint sent!”
And Karen Harvey said: “Complete falsely advertised show. Poor stunts, rubbish sounds, inappropriate content, no story line. Shocking.”
A spokesperson for The World’s Biggest Productions, who have produced the show, said: “Wicked Wizard Of Oz opened in Blackpool to a fantastic response in October.
“The promotional videos advertising the show featured the acts that appeared in the performance in Manchester either taken during our workshop rehearsals or at live performances in Blackpool.
“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. Six of our talented circus cast won silver medals at this year’s European circus festivals.
“It was never suggested this was a Cirque de Soleil production and their forthcoming UK tour has tickets from £66 – £372 and when compared to our prices of £29 – £70 it would be unrealistic to expect similar production values as Soleil.
“Our show, like all pantomimes, contains some jokes in the pantomime tradition of being silly. Over 150,000 people attend our shows annually and if maybe 0.1% do not appreciate one joke in the show, it feels rather unbalanced reporting against the mass who enjoy a form of humour that has survived two hundred years.”
A spokesperson for the AO Arena said: “As a venue, we have no control over the content of shows and therefore we were recommending people get in touch with the production company – tickets@worldsbiggestproductions.com.”