 THE WIZARD OF OZ
(R.S.C. Version)
by L. Frank Baum adapted by John Kane from the motion picture
screenplay for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
With music and lyrics from the MGM motion picture score by Harold
Arlen and E.Y. Harburg : Background music by Herbert Stothart
Barbican Theatre, London - 12 December, 1987
Revived - Barbican Theatre, London - 17 December, 1988. Transferred
to Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon - 2 February, 1989.
The first stage version of The Wizard of Oz was presented on
21 January, 1903 at the Majestic Theatre Broadway where it ran for some
293 performances. The Music at that time was composed by A Baldwin Sloane
& Paul Tietjens with lyrics and Book by L. Frank Baum
STORY
Little Dorothy Gale of Kansas, like so many girls her age, often dreams
of what may lie over the rainbow. One day a tornado hits her home town
and carries her away to Munchkinland - at the end of the rainbow. The Munchkins fete Dorothy as a heroine. Dorothy wants to go home to
Kansas and seeks the help of the kind Sorceress of the North. Only the
great Wizard of Oz, says the Sorceress, can help Dorothy get back to Kansas.
Dorothy persuades three friends to accompany her on the trip to the Emerald
City to see the Wizard. They are Scarecrow, who lacks a brain, he thinks;
the Tin Woodman, who has no heart, and the Cowardly Lion, who would like
to have some courage.
The Wicked Witch of the West vows vengeance on Dorothy and does all she
can to stop the friends getting to the Emerald City. But they do reach
it, and manage to see the Wizard. He will only help them, he says, if
they kill the Wicked Witch of the West, an apparently impossible task.
They do succeed, they get all their wishes and the Wizard accompanies
Dorothy to Kansas in a rocket ship.
The well-known score includes some of the best loved songs in the American
musical pantheon.
Cast:
Male - 10+, Female 8+ (plus large and varied cast of minor roles
and Chorus)
MUSICAL NUMBERS
- Overture - Orchestra
- Over the Rainbow - Dorothy
- The Twister - Orchestra
- Munchkinland - Glinda, Dorothy & the Munchkins
- If I Only Had a Brain - Scarecrow, Dorothy & Crows
- We're Off to See the Wizard - Dorothy & Scarecrow
- If I Only Had a Heart - Tin Man, Dorothy, Scarecrow & Trees
- We're Off to See the Wizard (Reprise) - Dorothy, Scarecrow & Tin
Man
- If I Only Had the Nerve - Lion, Dorothy, Scarecrow & Tin Man
- We're Off to See the Wizard (Reprise) - Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin
Man & Lion
- Finale Act I - Poppies - Glinda, Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man,
Lion & Company
- Entr'acte
- The Merry Old Land of Oz - Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion,
Guard & Company
- If I Were King of the Forest - Lion, Dorothy, Scarecrow & Tin
Man
- The Jitterbug - The Jitterbugs, Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man &
Lion
- Winkies March - The Winkies
- Over the Rainbow (Reprise) - Dorothy
- Ding, Dong, the Witch Is Dead - The Winkies, Dorothy, Scarecrow,
Tin Man & Lion
- Finale Act II - Tin Man, Dorothy, Glinda
Orchestration:
Flute; oboe; cor anglais, reed 1, 2 & 3; trumpet 1 &
2; trombone; horn 1 & 2; drums; percussion; harp; violin 1 & 2;
viola; cello; bass; piano & synthesiser.
Discography:
Royal Shakespeare
Company OLC - TER - CDTER 1165
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