The Wizard of Oz (1987 stage play)
Encyclopedia
The Wizard of Oz is a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 with a book by John Kane
John Kane (writer)
John Kane is an actor and writer.-Career:An associate actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he played Puck in Peter Brook's acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream alongside Ben Kingsley, Alan Howard and Frances de la Tour, before turning to comedy script writing...

, music by Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...

 and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It has additional background music by Herbert Stothart
Herbert Stothart
Herbert Stothart was a song writer, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was also nominated for nine Oscars, winning Best Original Score for The Wizard of Oz.-Biography:...

. It is based on the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...

by L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...

 and the 1939 film
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...

 version written by Noel Langley
Noel Langley
Noel Langley was a successful novelist, playwright, screenwriter and director. While under contract to MGM he was one of the screenwriters for The Wizard of Oz...

, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf.

Successful musicals based on the Baum novel were created in 1902 (for Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

) and 1945 (for St. Louis Municipal Opera), the latter of which, using songs from the popular 1939 film, is still frequently revived. Seeking to more closely recreate the 1939 film on stage, the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...

 adapted the film's screenplay, also using the songs from the film, and produced a new version at London's Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...

 in 1987. This was also a success and has been given many revivals in various formats. This musical has been touring the U.S. since 2008. It has become a popular musical for community theatres, schools and children's theatres in the United States and the United Kingdom.

History

The Wizard of Oz was first turned into a musical extravaganza
The Wizard of Oz (1902 stage play)
The Wizard of Oz was a 1902 musical extravaganza based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, which was originally published in 1900...

 by L. Frank Baum himself. A loose adaptation of Baum's 1900 novel (there is no Wicked Witch or Toto, and there are some new characters), it first played in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 in 1902 and was a success on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 the following year. It then toured for seven years. The 1939 film adaptation
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...

 bore a closer resemblance to the storyline of Baum's original novel than most previous versions. It was a strong success, won the Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 for best song and best score, and has been frequently broadcast on television. This was followed, in 1945, by a musical theatre adaptation presented at the St. Louis Municipal Opera (MUNY). The script was adapted by Frank Gabrielson
Frank Gabrielson
Frank Gabrielson was an American stage, film, and television writer. His stage work includes The Wizard of Oz as adapted in 1942 for The Muny, Days of Our Youth, also performed as The Bo Tree and Most Likely to Succeed and The Great Whitewash, also known as The More the Merrier, co-written with...

 from the novel, but it is influenced in some respects by the motion picture script and uses most of the songs from the film. A new song was added for Dorothy
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...

 to sing in the Emerald City
Emerald City
The Emerald City is the fictional capital city of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...

, called "Evening Star", and the Wizard goes home in a rocket ship instead of a hot air balloon. The MUNY version continues to receive frequent revivals.

According to Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...

 (RSC) director Ian Judge, the company's 1987 adapatation "came about when Terry Hands, artistic director of the company, asked for a show that could be performed annually over the Christmas season, as a revival of J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...

's play Peter Pan had been previously. ... Judge obtained the rights to the [1939] film. ... An additional verse has been put back into the Academy Award-winning song 'Over the Rainbow,' as well as an entire number, 'The Jitterbug,' that was cut from the movie. Every word of the screenplay has been left in. 'We've just fattened it out a little bit because you need a few more words in the theater than you need in the movies.'" In 1986, John Kane
John Kane (writer)
John Kane is an actor and writer.-Career:An associate actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he played Puck in Peter Brook's acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream alongside Ben Kingsley, Alan Howard and Frances de la Tour, before turning to comedy script writing...

 was asked by the company to write the book for the adaptation. This hews even more closely to the film's screenplay than the 1945 MUNY version and attempts to recreate the film's atmosphere and some of its special effects.

Synopsis

Act One
A teenage girl, Dorothy Gale, lives on a farm in Kansas with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and little dog Toto. Feeling unappreciated, she dreams of a far away place ("Over the Rainbow"). Miss Gulch, their unpleasant neighbor, serves Dorothy with a summons to take Toto away. Toto escapes from Miss Gultch's bicycle basket, and Dorothy runs away from home with her dog. On the road, they find the showman, Professor Marvel, who urges her to return to the farm. Dorothy arrives home, just as a tornado touches down. She and Toto are locked out of the storm cellar. In her house, Dorothy is accidentally hit on the head.

The house is carried by the tornado to the Land of Oz. Dorothy meets the Munchkins and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (who resembles Aunt Em). Her house has fallen upon, and killed, the Wicked Witch of the East. This frees the Munchkins from the witch's power, and they treat Dorothy as their heroine ("Come Out, Come Out"; "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead"). The Wicked Witch of the West (who resembles Miss Gulch) arrives to claim her sister's magic ruby slippers and vows to avenge her death. Glinda has already put the slippers on Dorothy's feet, further infuriating the witch. Dorothy wants to go home to Kansas. The Munchkins tell her that the wonderful the Wizard of Oz will know what to do ("Follow the Yellow Brick Road"). Dorothy starts off towards the Emerald City.

Dorothy and Toto meet three strange traveling companions, each of whom needs help: The Scarecrow's head is full of stuffing ("If I Only Had a Brain"). The rusty Tin Man's chest is empty ("If I Only Had a Heart") and the Cowardly Lion is afraid of his own tail ("If I Only Had the Nerve"). Dorothy invites them all to join her to see if the Wizard can help them ("We're Off to See the Wizard"). The Wicked Witch of the West threatens Dorothy, Toto and her new companions along the way but fails to intimidate Dorothy into giving up the ruby slippers. The witch creates a beautiful field of poppies, but their scent is poisonous. Glinda rescues the travelers by covering the poppies with snowflakes ("Optimistic Voices"). The travelers finally reach the Emerald City.

Act Two
The Emerald City's Gatekeeper tries to discourage the adventurers, but they are persistent and gain entry ("The Merry Old Land of Oz"). They are washed, combed and buffed, but the Wizard refuses to meet them. The Wicked Witch makes another ominous appearance, and the lion wishes more than ever for courage ("If I Were King of the Forest"). Finally taken to see the fearsome Wizard, the four friends are given a quest to prove themselves worthy of the Wizard's assistance: they must bring him the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West, and the only way to do that would be to kill her.

The friends leave in fear and haste for the land of the Winkies (whom the Wicked Witch has enslaved and forced to serve in her army) and the witch's castle ("March of the Winkies"). In a haunted forest, the jitterbugs make the travelers dance until they all collapse from exhaustion ("The Jitterbug"). The Wicked Witch's flying monkeys then attack, swooping away with Dorothy and Toto. But the witch still does not have the power to take the ruby slippers off of Dorothy's feet ("Over the Rainbow" - Reprise). Toto manages to escape and help the Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion to find Dorothy. The three disguise themselves in Winkie uniforms and sneak into the castle. They find Dorothy, but the Wicked Witch foils their escape. The Wicked Witch attacks the Scarecrow with fire, and Dorothy throws a bucket of water at him, accidentally dousing the witch. The witch screams, steams and melts into nothing ("Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" - Reprise). The friends take the broom back to the Emerald City.

The Wizard is again reluctant to meet Dorothy and friends. Toto pulls aside the curtain behind which the Wizard is reveals as an ordinary man (who resembles Professor Marvel) using a microphone to make his voice impressive. Nevertheless, the Wizard is able to help the adventurers. He conducts a graduation exercise, awarding to the Scarecrow a doctorate of Thinkology; appoints the Lion as a member of the Legion of Courage; and presents the Tinman with a heart-shaped ticker – a watch. Finally, he reveals that he is from the prairies himself and offers to give Dorothy a ride back to Kansas in a hot-air balloon. It takes off while Dorothy is distracted, and she is afraid that she missed her chance to go home, but Glinda arrives. She says that Dorothy has the power to transport herself and Toto by clicking her heels together three times and repeating "there's no place like home".

Dorothy wakes up in Kansas, with a bump on her head. The tornado has passed. Miss Gulch broke her leg when the storm blew down a telegraph pole – she won't be riding her bicycle any time soon. Dorothy is overjoyed to see her family and friends, whom she appreciates more than ever.

Musical numbers

Act One
  • Overture – Orchestra
  • Over the Rainbow
    Over the Rainbow
    "Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...

     – Dorothy
  • The Twister – Orchestra
  • Munchkinland (Come Out, Come Out; Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead; Follow the Yellow Brick Road) – Glinda, Dorothy and Munchkins
  • If I Only Had a Brain
    If I Only Had A Brain
    "If I Only Had a Brain" is a song by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg . The song is sung in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz by the characters that meet Dorothy...

     – Scarecrow, Dorothy and Crows
  • We're Off to See the Wizard - Dorothy and Scarecrow
  • If I Only Had a Heart
    If I Only Had A Brain
    "If I Only Had a Brain" is a song by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg . The song is sung in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz by the characters that meet Dorothy...

     – Tin Man, Dorothy and Apple Trees
  • We're Off to See the Wizard - Dorothy, Scarecrow and Tin Man
  • If I Only Had the Nerve
    If I Only Had A Brain
    "If I Only Had a Brain" is a song by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg . The song is sung in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz by the characters that meet Dorothy...

     – Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, Scarecrow and Tin Man
  • We're Off to See the Wizard
    We're Off to See the Wizard
    "We're Off to See the Wizard" is one of the classic and most memorable songs from the Academy Award-winning film The Wizard of Oz. Composer Harold Arlen described it, along with "The Merry Old Land of Oz" and "Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead", as one of the "lemon drop" songs of the film.The melody's...

     – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion
  • Poppies – Glinda and Female Ensemble
  • Optimistic Voices/Act One Finale – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, Glinda and Company

Act Two
  • Entr'acte – Orchestra
  • Optimistic Voices
    Optimistic Voices
    "Optimistic Voices" is the name of both a song and the choir singing it, from the 1939 film classic The Wizard of Oz. The music is by Herbert Stothart & Harold Arlen and the lyrics are by E.Y. Harburg....

     – Female Ensemble
  • The Merry Old Land of Oz
    The Merry Old Land Of Oz
    "The Merry Old Land of Oz" is a song from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and the musical. It is sung by the townspeople of the Emerald City, who are joined at appropriate times by the group of four travelers: Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion....

     – Emerald City Guard and Company
  • If I Were King of the Forest
    If I Were King Of The Forest
    "If I Were King of the Forest" is a song from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Yip Harburg.The comic number is sung by the Cowardly Lion during the scene at the Emerald City, when the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy , the Tin Man and the Scarecrow are waiting to...

     – Lion, Dorothy, Scarecrow and Tin Man
  • March of the Winkies – Winkie Guards
  • The Jitterbug
    The Jitterbug
    "The Jitterbug" was a song sung by Judy Garland as Dorothy, together with the Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion, that was cut from the soundtrack of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. It was both a jazzy development of the plot and a nod to the then popular bobby-soxer dance craze...

     – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and Jitterbugs
  • Over the Rainbow (Reprise) – Dorothy
  • March of the Winkies (Reprise) – Winkie Guards, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion
  • Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (Reprise) – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and Company
  • Finale – Company


1987 Original London production

The RSC based its costumes on a combination of the book's original artwork and the style of the then-popular musical The Wiz
The Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...

. The original cast featured Imelda Staunton
Imelda Staunton
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake...

 as Dorothy Gale; Bille Brown
Bille Brown
Bille Brown, AM is an Australian Shakespearean actor and acclaimed writer of plays.Brown was born in Biloela, Queensland and studied drama at the University of Queensland where he received and Honorary Doctorate of Letters...

 (in drag) as Miss Gulch/the Wicked Witch of the West; Dilys Laye
Dilys Laye
Dilys Laye was an English actress and screenwriter, best known for comedy roles. She died of cancer aged 74.- Early life :...

 and later Joyce Grant
Joyce Grant
Joyce Grant was a UK-based South African actress.-South Africa:Born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, she was encouraged by her father to come to London to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama....

 as Aunt Em/Glinda
Glinda
Glinda is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.- Literature :Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...

, the Good Witch of the North; and Trevor Peacock
Trevor Peacock
Trevor Peacock is an English stage and television character actor. He was born in Tottenham, London, the son of Alexandria and Victor Edward Peacock.-Television and Film Career:...

 as Zeke/the Cowardly Lion. When the same production was reproduced in 1988, Gillian Bevan
Gillian Bevan
Gillian Bevan is an English actress, best known for her roles in British television shows and West End theatre....

 played Dorothy. The production was an immediate success in London when it opened at London's Barbican Theatre. The Times reviewer wrote: "This is, to come out with it immediately, the most marvellous show."

The RSC revived the show the following season, again with Gillian Bevan
Gillian Bevan
Gillian Bevan is an English actress, best known for her roles in British television shows and West End theatre....

 as Dorothy, and recorded a cast album of the show. The staging has been repeated frequently by musical theatre companies in the UK.

1988 United States premiere

The RSC version's first outing in the U.S. was in 1988 in a production starring Cathy Rigby
Cathy Rigby
Cathleen Roxanne Rigby , best known as Cathy Rigby, is a former gymnast, actress and speaker.-Early life:Rigby was born in Los Alamitos, California in 1952....

 as Dorothy (she had made her musical debut in the role in a 1981 MUNY revival) and Lara Teeter
Lara Teeter
Lara Teeter is an American dancer, actor, singer, theatre director and college professor.Born in Guthrie, Oklahoma, Teeter earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oklahoma City University. He made his Broadway debut in the short-lived 1980 musical Happy New Year, followed by another flop, the...

 as the Scarecrow. This was presented by the Long Beach Civic Light Opera (Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

) from July 14 to July 31, 1988.

1989 The Wizard of Oz Live! Arena Show

In 1989, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the film, the RSC script and score were adapted into an arena-style touring production in the U.S. According to USA Today, the show was "Built to play about 70 stadiums across the country, the $5 million production opened Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...

." The production, with many dramatic and, according to critics, ill-advised design features, was not well received and had a short run, closing quietly in 1990.

1990s productions

1992 Paper Mill Playhouse
In 1992, the Paper Mill Playhouse
Paper Mill Playhouse
Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theatre with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey, less than 25 miles from Manhattan. Due to its location, it can draw from the pool of actors who live in New York City. Its location, as well as its focus on producing large-scale shows, makes...

, Millburn, New Jersey
Millburn, New Jersey
Millburn is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 20,149.Millburn Township was created as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 20, 1857, from portions of Springfield Township.Millburn also...

, produced the Royal Shakespeare Company's version. Eddie Bracken
Eddie Bracken
Edward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Life and career:Bracken was born in Astoria, New York, the son of Catherine and Joseph L. Bracken. Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940...

 was featured as a Guard and the Wizard. The New York Times review noted that "Robert Johanson and James Rocco, sharing credit for direction and choreography, are attempting to relive the movie with up-to-the-minute stage effects. Ergo. Comes the cyclone, the cow flies. The farmhouse zooms over the first rows and lands back on stage, in the manner of the Phantom's crashing chandelier. Dorothy is suspended, Peter Pan-like, on high wires. All manner of creeping, crawling creatures augment the ascending ones; monkeys levitate, spookily; everyone, it appears, sooner or later, ascends, over and over."

1993 U.S. tour
The RSC version was used in the first U.S. stage touring production based on the film, beginning in 1993. The Boston Herald reported that the show was "complete with all the beloved songs by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg. It's well-acted and extremely well-sung by a cast that draws on the movie classic's indelible characterizations of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, etc."

1995 The Wizard of Oz on Ice
This Kenneth Feld
Kenneth Feld
Kenneth Jeffrey Feld is the CEO of , which owns Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice!, and He is also the producer of several Broadway plays. The business was started by his father Irvin Feld and Ken became CEO upon his father's death in 1984. He has three daughters, two...

 production toured from 1996 to 1999. The ice show followed "the familiar story largely intact from the 1939 MGM film" and was choreographed by Robin Cousins
Robin Cousins
Robert "Robin" Cousins is a British retired competitive figure skater. He is the 1980 Olympic Champion, the 1980 European champion, a three-time World medalist and four-time British national champion. He later starred in ice shows and also produced his own...

. It featured a pre-recorded soundtrack with the voices of Laurena Wilkerson as Dorothy and Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...

 as all of the other characters (including the female characters). The costumes and some staging concepts did not follow the MGM movie: The Witch "flew", while Glinda "skated" her initial arrivals and exits onstage. The production toured nationally and internationally.

A television adaptation of the production, featuring Oksana Baiul
Oksana Baiul
Oksana Serhiyivna Baiul is a Ukrainian professional figure skater. She is the 1994 Olympic Champion in Ladies' Singles and 1993 World Champion.-Early and personal life:...

 as Dorothy and Victor Petrenko as the Scarecrow, was telecast in 1996.

1995 The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True was a 1995 musical performance based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz . The book and score of the film were performed on stage at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund...


This version used the RSC version and was filmed for television by the TNT
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...

 Network with an all star cast, including newcomer Jewel
Jewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...

 as Dorothy and Joel Grey
Joel Grey
Joel Grey is an American stage and screen actor, singer, and dancer, best known for his role as the Master of Ceremonies in both the stage and film adaptation of the Kander & Ebb musical Cabaret. He has won the Academy Award, Tony Award and Golden Globe Award...

 as the Wizard. Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

, Roger Daltry and Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...

 played the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion. Debra Winger
Debra Winger
Mary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...

 was the Wicked Witch. A cast album was made that includes more of the music from the show than the 1989 RSC recording as well as some dialogue.

1997 Madison Square Garden production
The Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

, New York production opened in May 1997 for 48 performances. Co-produced by the Paper Mill Playhouse, it used a shorter version of the show, 90 minutes long, and score designed for younger audiences. Directed by Paper Mill artistic director Robert Johanson, the cast included Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Cherrie Barr is an American actress, comedian, writer, television producer and director. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy at clubs before gaining fame for her role in the sitcom Roseanne. The show was a hit and lasted nine seasons, from 1988 to 1997...

 as the Wicked Witch of the West and Ken Page, Lara Teeter
Lara Teeter
Lara Teeter is an American dancer, actor, singer, theatre director and college professor.Born in Guthrie, Oklahoma, Teeter earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oklahoma City University. He made his Broadway debut in the short-lived 1980 musical Happy New Year, followed by another flop, the...

 and Michael Gruber as the Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man.

This production was repeated in May 1998 at Madison Square Garden. It featured Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...

 as the Wizard and Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...

 as the Wicked Witch of the West. She was later replaced by Jo Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley is an American actress. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. She is best known for her work on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.-Biography:...

. Most of the 1997 cast returned, and it was this cast that made the cast recording associated with this version. This engagement was part of a US tour that ended in 1999.

2008 U.S. Tour

A touring production of the show uses the RSC version. With new technology for scenery and special effects, this production has proven to be a success, running in cities across the U.S. The production began in October 2008 and is scheduled to continue through December 2011.

See also

  • The Wizard of Oz (2011 musical)
    The Wizard of Oz (2011 musical)
    The Wizard of Oz is a musical based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The adaptation is by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams. The musical uses all of the Harold Arlen and E. Y...

  • The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
    The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
    The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...

  • Musical selections in The Wizard of Oz
    Musical selections in The Wizard of Oz
    The songs from the 1939 musical fantasy film The Wizard of Oz have taken their place among the most famous and instantly recognizable American popular songs of all time, and the film's principal song, Over the Rainbow, is perhaps the most famous song ever written for a film. Music and lyrics were...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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