Preview: Wizard of Oz at The Motorpoint Arena

Words: Katie Lyle
Wednesday 20 October 2021
reading time: min, words

The World's Biggest Panto The Wizard of Oz is here with a spectacular tour visiting Nottingham Motorpoint Arena for one night only…

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The brand new production of The Wizard of Oz will be visiting arenas across the UK including a date at Nottingham Motorpoint Arena on Sunday 2 January. 

This production earns itself the official title of The World’s Biggest Panto as it will be performed on the world’s biggest pantomime stage, the equivalent of four London Palladiums, plus two mobile stages that will travel around the arena as the Yellow Brick Road unfolds before a 6,000 capacity audience.

Wizard of Oz is set to star The One Show and Our Farm in the Dales Matt Baker as Wizard and ITV The Chase’s Jenny ‘The Vixen’ Ryan as the good witch Glinda. Scarecrow is played by new comedy star Jordan Conway, and the show will also feature Kelly Balaki as Dorothy, Joe Speare as Lion and TV actor Charlie Quirke in the role of Tinman. Charlie, who will bring an eccentric mechanical twist to the role, is best known for his role as Travis in the hugely popular TV sitcom Birds of a Feather.

Matt Baker said: “This Christmas I’m swapping the green fields of Our Farm in the Dales for the Emerald City!

“I’ll be an acrobatic, laser wielding wizard and I might even bring the Children in Need Rickshaw along for the ride. It’s a show packed with spectacular entertainment and fun with a brilliant script and cast to boot. I can’t wait for my festive tour on the yellow brick road!”

With a 10-metre tall roof there is plenty of flying with cirque stars as the crows, and the witch actually flies on a broomstick around the arena.

TV quiz brain Jenny Ryan, in the role of Glinda, added: “The spectacular size of the show is breathtaking. There are giant video screens with animated computer graphic backgrounds and an ice-covered Emerald city skating scene that is magical.

“With a 10-metre tall roof there is plenty of flying with cirque stars as the crows, and the witch actually flies on a broomstick around the arena.”

Presented by World’s Biggest Productions and following previous productions of Elf, Cinderella and Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz is a brand new Christmas show which is set to lift the arena panto right over the rainbow. World’s Biggest Panto is the brand name created by Jon Conway, CEO of World’s Biggest Productions Ltd, to describe the amazing concept shows they produce specially for UK arenas each Christmas season. 

Jon has created more than five hundred pantomime theatre shows. Speaking about The Wizard of Oz, Jon said: “We are trying to create an event where a live stage show can encompass traditional values but also rival a big screen IMAX cinematic format.

“Since our first production of Cinderella at Birmingham in 2015 we are now producing in eight of the UK’s arenas with ever more spectacular effects and comedy each year.”

You can grab your tickets for The Wizard of Oz at The Motorpoint Arena here

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