#alw the wizard of oz

[tabooiart]

NOT enough discussion about the 1950s-metropolis-post apocalyptic-rainbow explosion stage production of the wizard of oz. so i drew them. theyre friends :)

[tabooi]

Jonny Fines as The Scarecrow in Leicester Curve Theatre's production of The Wizard of Oz

[straw-for-brains]

welcome!!

This is a blog dedicated to what I've been calling the "UK Revival" of the stage production of The Wizard of Oz. This includes the Leicester Curve Theatre's 2022 production, the London Palladium's 2023 production, and the current UK tour. This version of the show will be my main focus, but I may also reblog stuff about other adaptations and productions from time to time.

For a little background on myself: Hi!! My name is Kenny and my pronouns are she/they. The 1939 WoZ film has been one of my favorite films ever since I was a small child and I have recently become obsessed with this version of the story. I am a huge musical theatre fan, especially of weird niche shows. My other favorites are Starlight Express and Cats!!!

Feel free to come and chat in my ask box if you'd like, I love to yap

[real-reulbbr-band]

They get prep time but they need to fight in an open space, also they can’t call anyone to help.

[nervestatic]

hello fellow oz girlies does anyone have a bootleg of the ALW wizard of oz reboot? dms are open if anyone does and can share ❤️

[hold-out-my-sweet]

hi just saying id sell my soul to see Dianne Pilkington as the Wicked Witch of the West again thanks

[laz-laz-ace-pilot]

Just watched the ALW The Wizard Of Oz touring and there's definitely something to be said for a black Dorothy and how vehemently Gulch goes after her and how isolated she feels with her adopted family.

Also Aviva Tulley was fantastic so

[wetcatschwartzy]

would anyone want to hear my starkid wizard of oz (alw musical) fancast

[dolokhoded]

idk if this is common knowledge but superstar was only one of many alw reality tv shows in the 00s. They did one to find who would play Maria in sound of music, Nancy in Oliver, Dorothy in the wizard of oz. Alw making random members of the public complete for the chance to win a west end role was inescapable in the uk for a solid decade

what a normal normal guy.

[toiletpotato]

oh how I love this poll.

First, a tangent. a few years after the original book was published, there was a Broadway show that later toured that L Frank Baum worked on himself. It is implied by the foreword in the second Oz book that the success of The Wizard of Oz stage musical (musical extravaganza, started on Broadway in 1902 and ended touring in 1909) (it opened at the Majestic Theatre, but not that one, this one has since been demolished) impacted the publishing of future books, since more kids saw the story (well, a modified version of it) and then continued to send letters to L Frank Baum to write more books. Okay, first tangent over.

THE WIZARD OF OZ - MUNY

I think that the MUNY Oz is an interesting show. They replaced the balloon with a rocket ship. The Jitterbug is now what closes Act 1. There is no poppy scene, and there aren't any magic shoes- ruby nor silver. The Wizard actually gets Dorothy home (in said rocket ship). The script may or may not be out there somewhere online for the curious. MUNY Oz also is the first introduction, to my knowledge, of the cut Over the Rainbow introductory verse (When all the world is a hopeless jumble...) used by both the

THE WIZ

I love The Wiz, I think it is the more faithful of direct adaptations of the 1900 book, as most other musicals on this list are adaptations of the 1939 film. In The Wiz, there are four witches, not three, and the shoes are silver. (Fun fact, it played at the Majestic Theatre, the current one!). They battle Kalidahs (a cross between a tiger and a bear, oh my). For those that know The Wiz movie, that does not accurately reflect what audiences saw on stage. Think of the movie like a non-replica production: same songs, different concept. It also gives the Winkies a more prominent role/returns them to their original role in the book, being enslaved by the Wicked Witch of the West (in the 1939 movie they're the guards of the Wicked Witch of the West, the ones that sing oh-ee-yah, ee-oh-ah). The songs for The Wiz are undoubtedly one of the stronger parts of the show, but the book follows the beats you expect it to. Sadly I have yet to find the book floating around the internet. I find the way songs are placed and who sings very interesting in Oz. Every major female character gets a song (Em, Dorothy, all three surviving witches), and Dorothy does not start singing until she gets to Oz. Each of the three friends, except for Scarecrow, gets two songs (Slide Some Oil to Me/What I Would Do If I Could Feel; Mean Ole Lion/Be a Lion). Please check it out if you are only familiar with the 1939 movie!

WICKED

Wicked is one that stands out on this list since it is not a direct adaptation of the book nor is it a direct adaptation of the movie. However, it does take elements from both with added original content. It is largely successful in what it tries to achieve, though there are some funky little plot holes along the way if you consider the original Oz story. Act 1 is a prequel and Act 2 is more of a parallel narrative to the movie, specifically. It is also not nearly as dark as Maguire's original novel. I do enjoy it and yes the script is available out there somewhere, since the musical is available for licensing in Australasia.

THE WIZARD OF OZ - RSC

Of the adaptations of the 1939 movie, I think the most accurate would have to go the RSC version. You've got the re-added introductory verse to Over the Rainbow, Jitterbug, Over the Rainbow reprise, and Ding Dong the Witch is Dead reprise. That's about it for added materials. There's still a balloon. You want to see The Wizard of Oz movie on stage, this is the strongest from an objective standpoint. It has a goal and achieves it well. The script is somewhere out there on the Internet for the curious and there is also a cast recording which is well done.

THE WIZARD OF OZ - ALW

From an objective of a place as I can be, I think that ALW tried to give an interesting adaptation of the movie with some new, original songs. However, I believe that there is a misunderstanding in how the songs work in this adaptation. In 1939, the Wicked Witch does not sing, and Dorothy is the only one that sings in Kansas. I believe that this serves a narrative position as it differentiates these characters from the others. Adding a song for Professor Marvel and for the Wicked Witch defeats this purpose. Adding a new Kansas song, based in either the melody of Miss Gulch's theme or March of the Winkies... doesn't really make sense. I get the Over the Rainbow is not much of an opening number, but if there were any melody that would have more narrative sense to base an opening number in, I would think it could be either Optimistic Voices (the song at the end of the poppy scene) or Merry Old Land of Oz (the makeover song), since that could be used to subvert the happiness of Oz with how Dorothy feels in Kansas. There is also a mishandling of how they handle the queer legacy/aspect of Oz. In the original movie, the Lion was based in a stereotype/stock character of an effeminate man, "the sissy", in the ALW Oz, they kind of ramp it up a bit and have him deliver the line "and I'm a friend of Dorothy" or some variation, though the deliver is very heavy-handed, wink wink to the audience, "ha ha he's gay". To contrast, in the Muppets Wizard of Oz, Fozzie Bear, as the Lion, delivers the exact same line, but delivers it sincerely, when they are trying to get into the Emerald City. This allows for those that know the other meaning of friend of Dorothy to get it from that, but it'll go over the heads of those who do not, just like the original phrase! That's as much as I can glean from the cast album as I am yet to find a script since the show is unavailable for licensing. I do think that the current West End revival has a really nice design- the Merry Old Land of Oz sequence feels very Wicked and The Wiz inspired, and Georgina Onuorah has a wonderful voice.

OTHER

While Concord Theatricals handles the licensing for The Wiz and The Wizard of Oz (RSC and MUNY), MTI does have a Wizard of Oz of their own in the form of The Wizard of Oz (Prince Street Players Version). This is not based on the MGM film, nor is it a more faithful adaptation of the book. They only have two witches, Glinda and the Wicked Witch, and all songs are original. It does follow some musical similarities to the 1939 film and The Wiz (ex. each of the three friends gets a song and they sing a song as they go down the yellow brick road). The yellow brick road song is called So Far So Good. Each of the three friends songs are called No Brains Have I/No Heart Have I/No Guts Have I. The Wicked Witch wants to boil the friends + Dorothy in a stew in her cauldron. The same cauldron gets tipped over to melt her. It's a very interesting show based on information available online. There is also Wizard of Oz: Dreams Come True, which is a concert presentation of the movie with some short scenes (starring Joel Grey as the Wizard!) There are musicals based on later Oz books as well, but this poll seems to be more about the first book.

Thanks for reading, if you read of all of that. Since the original title of the book was the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and since it has often played at the Majestic Theatre, I'll leave you with something wonderful and something majestic.

Now that the Best Musical Super Cup is over, I will be posting some standalone polls and other non-poll posts until I feel like starting the next tournament. This question is one that has been on my mind for a while.

[tabooiart]

Be off and be on your way! Bring me the broomstick of the Witch of the West These are your orders, now obey!

^ bonus flats cuz theyre cute

[tabooi]

THEY'RE FRIENDS

[straw-for-brains]

the uk tour cast of the wizard of oz <3

[janedances]

Day 5 - Georgina Onuorah as Jane Seymour

Georgina Onuorah is a British actress, singer and dancer! She was most recently alternate Cinderella in ALW Cinderella, and is currently in the Wizard of Oz!

[love-little-lotte]

Lately, I've been obsessed with Ted Lasso. If you haven't watched it yet, please do! It's very wholesome and feel-good, and it's basically what the world needs right now. I finished Season 2 last weekend and since then, I've been watching cast interviews on YouTube because I desperately miss them.

Hannah Waddingham, who plays Rebecca in the show, is also a prolific musical theatre performer in the West End. She actually mentions this in her acceptance speech when she won the Emmy.

So, duh, of course, I had to listen to the shows she's been in! It turns out she had roles in Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, such as The Wizard of Oz and this little unknown (well, to me, at least) musical called The Beautiful Game. In the former, she played The Wicked Witch of the West (I just know she was glorious in that role), while in The Beautiful Game, she played a role named Christine.

Christine, you say? Isn't there already a Christine in an ALW musical? So you bet I listened to that cast recording on Spotify. The musical was staged around 2000-2001 in the West End. Anyway, in The Beautiful Game, Christine has this solo called "Our Kind of Love," which sounds sooo familiar. And then I looked it up. And then I realized. This was the original version of "Love Never Dies," the title song of The Phantom of the Opera's sequel (also best known as ALW's fan fiction).

You can listen to the song here:

Or you can watch a video of Hannah singing it:

In comparison, here's "Love Never Dies," sung by Sierra Boggess from the OLC:

"Our Kind of Love" was eventually cut from The Beautiful Game, which was also renamed to The Boys in the Photograph. Thus, "Our Kind of Love" was reworked into what we know now as "Love Never Dies."

Oh, and did I forget to mention that the title The Beautiful Game references football? Which is basically what Ted Lasso is all about?

I'm not sure if this is common knowledge or what, but this is such a mind-blowing discovery for me, and I just want to share it with Ted Lasso Phans, if there are any. To conclude: Hannah Waddingham is amazing, and she's so, so talented. She always looks fierce, she's funny in interviews, she can do both drama and comedy flawlessly, and she can sing like that? She's definitely the real deal.

[andrewlloydwebber]

hi! you may have already chatted about this, but are you keeping up with the news about the poto movie? do you think we should put musicals on a high shelf so A*W can't reach them and sell the rights? is it too late to sign the petition for you to direct the movie? btw this is for you: ♥

Is there going to be a new movie? Haven’t heard, I’m not in the loop. Or is this the one with Scooter Braun?

ALW cannot be trusted with anything, from the Wizard of Oz to Cinderella, he just puts his grubby hands on everything. I’ll admit he wrote some interesting and dare I say good things in the 1970s and 1980s, but for the most part everything else has been boring at best and actively harmful at worst. He’s what’s wrong with commercial theatre and the fact that he keeps getting to try over and over again to recapture his former glory proves that we should seize his wealth and redsiTrubte it.

I would love to write a Phantom miniseries based closer to the Leroux novel but my only stipulation would be that Christine must be a brunette.

Thank you for the love, this is for you;💕✨⭐️