DELIGHTFUL `OZ' FULL OF FLAIR.

Byline: Victoria Giraud Special to the Daily News

Pardon me while I get sentimental.

It's hard not to enjoy that old tale of Dorothy's quest for the Wizard of Oz's help in returning to Kansas. I have a soft spot in my heart for the dopey Scarecrow's search for a brain, the Tin Woodsman's quest for a heart and the bumbling Cowardly Lion's search for courage.

``Oz,'' Tim Kelly's rendition of the famous L. Frank Baum classic, which sticks pretty close to the original, is playing at the Moorpark Melodrama. It offers some great family fun with new, lively tunes, energetic dances and superb costumes.

As the story goes, a tornado carries Dorothy (the appealing and expressive Erin Meredith Eichberg) and her dog Toto (played with zest and animation by Amanda Reeves) from Kansas to the Land of Oz. She is helped by the Munchkins and Glinda the Good (the likable Susan Burns) and threatened by the Wicked Witch (a delightfully fiendish performance by Kathi Janca Sowell) and her flying monkeys.

Undeterred, Dorothy starts on her journey to ask the Wizard of Oz for help and along the way she meets the friends who will help her. First, she meets the Scarecrow (played as a country bumpkin by the comical George Lindsey Jr.). The Tin Woodsman (a graceful and charming Jeff Wallach) joins the quest, followed soon after by the clownish Cowardly Lion (an over-the-top performance by Melodrama veteran Damian Gravino).

Oz, a campy portrayal by John Lordan, resembles a monstrous dog and has a deep, powerful voice. He's eventually revealed as a fake, but he some imaginative solutions to satisfy the Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman and Cowardly Lion. Glinda the Good sends Dorothy and Toto back to Kansas to live happily ever after.

Musical numbers add to the play's spice. Some are done in a bluesy fashion; one resembles rap. One of the student numbers was a play on the soft-shoe dance routine - ``Ol' Soft Paw'' - performed by the Cowardly Lion and Dorothy.

Sara Wilkey dances and plays the Guardian of the Gates. Amy Sullivan is Aunt Em and a monkey. Christy Barker is a dancer.

The vaudeville show following the play was a vivacious one that concentrated on ``Broadway for the Young at Heart.''

The talented ``Oz'' cast sang and danced to such numbers as ``Consider Yourself,'' ``Johnny One Note,'' and ``Be Our Guest,'' and finished with the resounding finale - ``76 Trombones.''

THE FACTS WHAT: ``Oz,'' by Tim Kelly. Based on the L. Frank Baum classic.

WHEN: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m., and Thursday at 7 p.m., through June 2.

WHERE: Moorpark Melodrama, 45 E. High St., Moorpark.

COST: $12 per person, seniors and children $9.50.

INFORMATION: [phone] or [phone].

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Photo

Photo: Headed for the land of `Oz' are George Lindsey Jr. a s the Scarecrow, left, Erin Eichberg as Dorothy, Jeff Wallach as the Tin Woodsman and Damian Gravino as the Cowardly Lion.