The face of
Dorothy
Bethany Weaver went to see the wizard.
He made her dreams come true
Bethany Weaver was like a lot of girls. In her younger years, she would watch the story of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. She loved the film. She loved Dorothy. It was her dream role.
Little did she know that she would have a chance to take over the mantle from greats such as Judy Garland. Only for her, it didn’t start with a tornado and following the yellow brick road; it started with an audition and a trip down the M25.
Before she knew it, Bethany walked from her own Surrey house and into the vibrant world of Munchkinland. She was standing in Dorothy’s classic blue and white checkered gingham dress, slippers placed on the yellow brick road and a shaggy Cairn Terrier at her ankles.
Oh, Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Surrey anymore.
“It's like a childhood dream come true for lots of young girls,
and I'm just so lucky I got to live it.”
“I remember watching the movie at my great aunt's house at five years old. I’ve always loved The Wizard of Oz and Dorothy, so when I got this role, it was almost like the little five-year-old girl inside me was giving me a hug,” Bethany says. “I had that kind of bewildered look. This is going to really change my life.”
Which it has. Since she announced that she was playing Dorothy in Wicked: For Good on Instagram — a post which has gained 827K likes — her life has taken a whole new trajectory.
Bethany, 30, is a dance and pilates teacher. She has done many interviews since her embargo lifted in February, and she is still brimming with enthusiasm. She recounts her days on set with such excitement and an infectious grin, reaching from ear to ear. “It's just nice to share my story in lots of different ways,” she explains. “It's like a childhood dream come true for lots of young girls, and I'm just so lucky I got to live it.”
Bethany’s love for performing began at a young age, but it wasn't until she was 16 years old that she started to take it seriously. She had to play catch-up to her peers, but that’s how she likes it. “I love starting at the bottom because you have somewhere to go and build towards. I hate going into a class or a room and being the best. I always like to work alongside somebody or aspire to be as good as somebody,” she says.
Bethany learnt her craft for four years at Laine Theatre Arts and The Urdang Academy before booking her first West End gig in Broken Wings. Since then, she hasn't looked back. Notable notches on her career are Oklahoma!, A Night at the Theatre in Abu Dhabi and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was performed in Monaco.
“I always believe I've got a next job because I've done really well in another room previously. So I've been really lucky to work with a lot of the same directors and actors,” explains Bethany.
“Once you're presented with the opportunity to make that dream happen, it's incredibly scary in the most surreal, wonderful way ever."
Her confident attitude would soon pay dividends. One night, she received a phone call that would change her life forever. It was her agent asking if she wanted to audition for the role of Dorothy. She said yes without hesitation.
However, her audition would be less than ideal. The room was full of girls who had embodied Dorothy. They had their high heels and skirts on and were reading through their briefs in preparation. Bethany, on the other hand, was wearing a blue jumper, had no brief and as she describes, “a horrendously botched pigtail”.
Suffice to say, she was very surprised when her agent called, saying she got the role.
Things quickly accelerated from then on. There were costume fittings, NDA’s and hair and make-up fittings. She was catapulted into the tornado and transported to Oz.
“It’s my first day on set at the wizard's lair, and I was acting with Jonathan Bailey and Ethan Slater. I’ve grown up watching Step Up, and John M. Shu is sitting in the chair. Ariana Grande has come to watch. I’ve got my own tent and I’ve got a stand-in,” she says, but the best was still yet to come.
“I loved the day on set when I was with the munchkins walking along the yellow brick road, waving after Ariana. It was just really surreal and extraordinary to be on a real-life, yellow brick road.”
Her dream had come true. She was experiencing something many girls like her had dreamed of. This wasn’t lost on her. Bethany was going to savour every last second. She was not going to let her five-year-old self down. “There was a general wave of kindness, which I think really transformed the set and made it probably one of the best experiences of my life," she reminisces.
Bethany dreamed, as everyone does. She was just lucky enough to have the chance to capitalise on it. “Once you're presented with the opportunity to make that dream happen, it's incredibly scary in the most surreal, wonderful way ever. It's something I never thought I would do, and now it's all I want to do,” Bethany says, with excitement.
“It's opened up this world of possibility that I can do much more. It's given me a lot of confidence and strength mentally. I've got that capacity to dream bigger now.”
The magic dust has settled for Bethany. The red carpets have finished. Her time in Oz is over. For the people close to her, it still comes as a shock. “My relatives were in shock. I've got a lot of young kids in my family, so they think it's really cool that I'm a Barbie doll. They say at school, ‘I'm related to Dorothy. It is their flex. I love it,” Bethany says, with a smile.
She is eager to get working, but not until she has revelled in her recent success. “You don't often sit back and actually recognise the good work you've done. So it's nice that the journey's been stretched out as such. It's really allowed me to enjoy moment by moment and not rush through it because, you know, time flies,” she says, with gratitude.
Bethany doesn’t know where she will go next, but she will never forget her time in Oz. No matter what happens, she will always miss her time as Dorothy most of all.
Words by Carter Smith. Images via Universal Pictures.
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