VIDEO SHOWBIZ SPECIAL: A Wizard audition

THE Evening Times has joined forces with the Pavilion Theatre in a bid to find a panto star to play the part of Dorothy in The Wizard of Never Woz.

For the first time, the theatre held open auditions to to find their leading lady star.

But does Glasgow have the talent? Showbiz Writer BRIAN BEACOM joined judges Dean Park, Pavilion boss Iain Gordon and impresario Robert C Kelly to find out.

IT'S 12 noon, outside the Pavilion Theatre in Renfield Street and already the queuing hordes of young girls - aged between 18 and 22 - are incredibly animated.

There's a raw mix of excitement, delight and fear in the air as they swop notes on what they will sing for their audition piece.

They know that once they walk through the swing doors their lives could change forever.

They all want to be Dorothy, but do they really know what is expected of them? A Dorothy has to be able to sing, to dance, to be able to play confused and naive. She has to be sympathetic to lions, scarecrows and tin men.

And she has to be brave enough to go toe to ruby slippered toe with the wicked witch.

But while some of the girls clearly have the confidence to take out the odd witch or two with nothing more than a quick one-liner, can they deliver the rest?

"It's a demanding part," says showbiz veteran Dean Park.

"You really are looking for a good all-rounder. And that means the girls have to be confident."

This is the first stage of auditions before a top 10 will be selected to go into the Pavilion version of boot camp and given speech and dance training.

However, inside, the 30 selected to audition certainly seem assured.

"Let's see what you can do," says Pavilion boss Iain Gordon. "Go out and sing a song you feel comfortable with. And relax. Enjoy yourself."

And we were off. And thankfully, Number One was good. As was Number Two. And the judges breathed a sigh of relief. It's all very well playing at Simon Cowell for the afternoon, but what do you say if a teary-eyed 19-year-old sings like she's in karaoke with three vodka n' Red Bulls down her neck?

But like every other reality contest there were a few head-shaking moments. Some could probably deliver a nice tune in the shower but up on stage they shrank. They looked tiny.

And there were a few who just didn't fit the bill of Dorothy. Now, we weren't looking for a Judy Garland clone, but the auditionees had to look, to a degree, what a Pavilion audience would expect Dorothy Gale to look like.

"You have to look at the girls and imagine the pigtails," said Iain Gordon.

And we so we looked. Hard. And some tried hard. Some tried too hard. Some broke down and left the stage. Some broke down and carried on.

One or two offered full performance pieces while others stood stiff as statues. Some sang Over The Rainbow and hit the high notes, yet one or two couldn't have made it close to the high notes even if Dorothy had lifts inserted in her ruby slippers.

But just as the Wizard of Oz is a fantastic adventure, most of the girls loved their first professional stage adventure.

"The audition was great, all the girls were really nice and it was my best audition ever," said Sarah Cassidy from Balornock who used to sing in Glasgow girl band Lemonescent.

"The theatre doesn't look as big now as it did when I was little, I remember thinking it was massive."

Kelly-Anne Reilly, a member of Clydebank Musical Society, agreed. "I was really nervous but was really looking forward to it," she said.

"It's been a great opportunity, so I just kept my fingers crossed and hoped that it would go well."

Finally, the top 10 auditionees were selected.

"The standard of performance has been very good," said Robert C. Kelly at judgment time.

But those who didn't make it didn't take the opportunity, X-Factor-style, to abuse the judges, scream loudly and depart in floods of tears claiming their lives were ruined forever.

Instead, they produced a wonderful theatre moment. They all got together on stage and sang Over The Rainbow.

And it was fantastic. It made you wish they could all be Dorothys. But they can't be. Only one Glasgow girl can follow the Yellow Brick Road to big stage success.

And we'll find out who that is next week.