Dramaturg's Notes:
GLOW Lyric Theatre
Greenville, SC
Summer 2015
by Allison Gibbes

 

 

The Source

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a novel by L. Frank Baum

Baum's tale about a young Kansas girl named Dorothy who flies away in a tornado to a magical land and has served as the basis for countless works and adaptations. While most people assume that The Wiz is based on the musical version of The Wizard of Oz, it was actually adapted from Baum's novel. Published in 1900, the novel is the first in a fourteen-book series. There are also over forty novel adaptations and sequels/prequels that have been written by other authors. The story has also become numerous comic books/graphic novels, video games, and many other types of adaptation. (36)

 

On the Screen 

There have been more than twenty film adaptations of the story including a 2005 Muppet's Wizard of Oz (Starring Ashanti, Queen Latifah and Miss Piggy as all of the witches, Pepe as Toto, Kermit as the Scarecrow, Gonzo as the Tin Man, and Fozzie as the Lion) and Disney's 2013 Oz: the Great and Powerful with Mila Kunis. The 1939 film version starring Judy Garland as Dorothy is perhaps the most famous and well-loved. Songs from Harold Arlen and EY Harburg's score have become pop standards, such as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and the work was adapted for the stage in 1943. It continues to be produced and is widely considered to be a standard of American (US) culture. There have been numerous television adaptations, both live-action and animated. (36)

 

Wicked - Novel (1995) and Musical (2003)

The musical, which is based on Gregory Maguire's book, has a score by popular Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz and celebrated a ten-year run in 2013. The original cast starred Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth, and the story acts as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz in which the Wicked Witch of the West (named Elphaba in the musical) and Galinda (she eventually drops the a) are roommates in school. It offers a sympathetic and feminist reading of a character who is a villain in the original story. (36)

 

Other Stage Adaptations

The first stage version of the book was a 1902 Chicago musical that incorporated topical political commentary. Adaptations have ranged from faithful to the original story to wildly creative. For instance, The Wizard of A.I.D.S., produced in 1987, was created to educate watchers about AIDS. The story has served as the basis for ballets and children's shows and has been translated into several languages. (36)

 

For a comprehensive list of adaptations, click here.