The process of getting fitted for a costume and wig has been described by Jason Manford, and it’s surprisingly low-key.
The actor and broadcaster, 41, will reenter the stage this summer at the London Palladium with Gary Wilmot and Ashley Banjo in a version of The Wizard of Oz.
The Wizard of Oz stage adaptation, an Oscar-winning MGM musical from 1939 starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, includes brand-new songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in addition to the film’s well-known score, which includes Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
As Dorothy travels the yellow brick road to Oz, she encounters several companions along the way. Manford will portray the Cowardly Lion, with Banjo playing the Tin Man and Wilmot playing the Scarecrow.
The father of six said on Twitter on Monday that he had been busy getting his lion wig repaired before the start of the production’s rehearsals.
The method, which required wrapping clingfilm around his skull, left him a little perplexed, though.
‘Popped into the Wizard of Oz office for my wig (mane??) fitting for the Cowardly Lion,’ he tweeted.
‘You’d think in 2023 there’d be some sort of hi-tech 3D printing wizardry to sort it, but, alas no, still a load of clingfilm wrapped round your head & some eyebrows drawn on with a sharpie!’
The performer then uploaded a number of photos of himself throughout the procedure, with cling film covering his entire head and extending all the way down over his eyes, and a bewildered look on his face.
After marking his hairline with a sharpie as well, he displayed the drawn eyebrows on his face as well as on the wrap that he was holding in his palm.
‘All the best wigs start off that way. You’re in good hands,’ replied one of his followers, TV executive Jay Hall.
‘Pure craft!! Love it,’ wrote another, as a third added, alongside a laugh-crying emoji: ‘Very fetching.’
‘Wowzers, wouldn’t recognise you!’ chimed in another fan.
In 2011, the Palladium staged the inaugural performance of The Wizard of Oz, which included Over the Rainbow winner Danielle Hope, Michael Crawford as the Wizard, and Hannah Waddingham as the Wicked Witch of the West from Ted Lasso.
L. Frank Baum, an American novelist, published it as the first book of a 14-volume series in 1900.
Manford had expressed interest in one day writing his own musical.
‘Maybe I’ll write my own musical. I’ve got a couple of things bubbling away. I’m writing with some friends, and so it’s just a case of getting ‘em up on their feet and seeing how it goes,’ he said.
‘I love being part of a cast and crew. I really enjoy that part of a musical. As a stand-up, it’s quite a lonely job, you’re by yourself quite a lot.’
Over the years, he has previously performed on stage in The Producers, Sweeney Todd, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
