The Wizard of Oz

The story follows a young farm girl who feeling unloved runs away, only to get caught in a storm and transported to a magical land. There she encounters fantastic characters in her attempt to get home and avoid the wrath of a wicked witch out to avenge the accidental death of her sister. On her travels she meets the Scarecrow, Tinman and Cowardly Lion who also go to Oz to get a brain, a heart and courage, respectively. In the end, Dorothy returns to Kansas, which proves the famous inspirational line to be true every time: “There’s no place like home.”

Adapted for the stage by L. Frank Baum himself, the original stage version of The Wizard of Oz tells the story of Dorothy and her pet cow (That’s right-a cow!), who are kidnapped by a twister and set down somewhere in the land of the Oz. When the Kansas farmhouse crashes from the sky it kills the cruel witch, who for
so many years has ruled so despotically over the Munchkins-inhabitants of Oz. The Munchkins are now free, and in gratitude the good witch of Oz presents Dorothy with a ring which has the power to grant two wishes. To test the ring, Dorothy wastes her first wish on a trifle. But she saved her second wish to bring a
Scarecrow back to life. Later they meet the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, and together with their new friends, they set off to find the Wizard in the Emerald City of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz premiered at the Majestic Theatre on January 20, 1903 with a cast that featured David Montgomery, Fred Stone, Anna Laughlin, Arthur Hill, Bessie Wynn, and Grace Kimball. The story was changed for the classic 1939 screen version featuring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, and Jack Haley, as well as a new score by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. The cow was replaced by Dorothy’s pet dog Toto and the ring became a pair of ruby slippers (originally silver but replaced by ruby, as it was considered a superior effect in Technicolour.) And of course the film introduced the memorable song “Over the Rainbow”, which won the Academy Award as the best song to come from the screen that season, and which from then on served as Judy Garland’s theme song. Growing up, almost everyone has seen the Wizard of Oz at least one time. The movie was designed as a musical, but it has become the ultimate symbol of Halloween, childhood, and much more. A girl named Dorothy is transported in her house by a tornado and sent to the magical land of Oz. All is fine and well in Oz except Dorothy just wishes to go home. She discovers that to get home she will have to find her way to the magical Wizard of Oz. The path to him is the yellow brick road. Along her journey to the Wizard, she encounters a cowardly lion, a scarecrow, and a tin man. Each of these characters desires something they feel they are lacking in their life. It all becomes evident in the end however that they already have the attributes that they seek and it takes the fellowship of the journey and its encounters to make them realise it.