<P> The Wizard of Oz is a musical based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, with a book adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams . The musical uses the Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg songs from the film and includes some new songs and additional music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and additional lyrics by Tim Rice . </P> <P> After previews in the West End from 7 February, the musical opened on 1 March 2011, directed by Jeremy Sams, and closed on 2 September 2012 . The original cast included Danielle Hope as Dorothy Gale, Michael Crawford as the Wizard and Hannah Waddingham as the Wicked Witch of the West . Sophie Evans played Dorothy on Tuesday evenings and took over the role full - time in February 2012 . The role of Dorothy was cast through the 2010 reality television show Over the Rainbow, in which Hope won and Evans was the runner - up . After a similar Canadian reality TV search show, a Toronto production began in December 2012 and closed in August 2013, and was followed by a North American tour . In April 2017 an Australian tour was announced including season at the Lyric Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, and at the Adelaide Festival Theatre . The cast includes Anthony Warlow as the Wizard with Lucy Durack as Glinda the Good Witch and Jemma Rix as Wicked Witch of the West . </P> <P> The Wizard of Oz was first turned into a musical extravaganza by Baum himself . A loose adaptation of his 1900 novel (there is no Wicked Witch or Toto, and there are some new characters), it first played in Chicago in 1902 and was a success on Broadway the following year . It then toured for nine years . The 1939 film adaptation bore a closer resemblance to the storyline of Baum's original novel than most previous versions . It was a strong success, winning the Academy Awards for best song and best score, and continues to be broadcast perennially . </P> <P> Among the many musical theatre adaptations of The Wizard of Oz, two previous ones have used the songs from the film . In 1945, the St. Louis Municipal Opera (MUNY) created a version with a script adapted by Frank Gabrielson from the novel, but it is influenced in some respects by the motion picture screenplay . It uses most of the songs from the film . This was followed, in 1987, by a Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) adaptation designed to more closely recreate the film version . The book by John Kane closely follows the film's screenplay, and it and uses nearly all of the film's music . Both the MUNY and RSC adaptations were successes and have been revived numerous times in the US and UK . </P>

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