The Wizard of Oz
Chagrin Valley Little Theatre
November 21, 2008 - December 20, 2008
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The Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum, adapted from the motion picture by John Kane
with Music & Lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg
The Wizard of Oz
Performance Dates & Tickets
November 21 - December 20, 2008
Friday & Saturday nights at 8 PM
Sundays Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 at 2 PM
$16 regular, $12 students and seniors
Call 440-247-8955 (Mon-Sat, 1-6 PM)
BUY TICKETS!
About the Play
Toto... I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.
Director: Greta Rothman
Musical Director: John Krol
Choreographer: Pam LaForce
Download a full-color flyer here!
Bring your own Munchkins to this perennial favorite, featuring all the beloved characters which have graced the cinema and stage since L. Frank Baum first conceived the story more than a century ago. Click the heels of your ruby slippers (if you happen to have a pair), steal the broomstick of the wicked Witch of the West (whom later versions of this deathless story consider merely misunderstood), and help Dorothy get back home. We may be in NE Ohio, but Emerald City - here we come!
The first Broadway stage version of "The Wizard of Oz" in 1902, starring Fred Stone and Dave Montgomery, was created as a result of the popularity of Baum's fairy tale, first published in 1900. This first "Broadway spectacular" differed greatly from the original story on which it was based, including the startling omission of both the Wicked Witch of the West and Toto characters, and the addition of several non-Baum characters! Even so, this version (and several others) enjoyed a long run on Broadway and some of its ideas were included in the 1939 MGM film classic starring Judy Garland.
CVLT will present the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) version adapted by John Kane in 1986, which uses as much of the aura of the film as is possible to create in a modern live theatre. The RSC version was a smash hit with British audiences, playing to record crowds at London’s Barbican Theatre in 1987 and sparking an immediate revival the following year, as well as a hugely popular cast recording.
American audiences first saw the RSC adaptation in a splashy 1988 production starring former Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby as Dorothy. A 1995 concert performance of the RSC's adaptation was presented at New York’s Lincoln Center, featuring celebrities Jewel as Dorothy, Jackson Browne as the Scarecrow, Roger Daltrey as the Tin Woodman, Joel Grey as the Wizard (a role he re-created in the smash Broadway hit Wicked), Nathan Lane as the Cowardly Lion, Deborah Winger as the Wicked Witch of the West, Natalie Cole as Glinda, and Lucie Arnaz as Auntie Em. The RSC is currently touring the show again.
Oz Facts and Trivia:
* The famous “Ruby Slippers” were originally silver in Baum’s book.
* Baum’s original illustrator, W.W. Denslow quarreled with Baum over royalty shares from the 1902 stage adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, for which Baum wrote the script and Denslow designed the sets and costumes. The royalties from the print and stage versions of The Wizard of Oz were sufficient to allow Denslow to purchase an island off the coast of Bermuda, and crown himself King Denslow I. He drank his money away, and died in obscurity in 1915.
* The Wiz, a 1978 musical film based on the 1975 stage musical of the same name, was directed by Sidney Lumet and starred Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.
* A 2007 television mini-series called Tin Man was presented by the Sci-Fi Channel, directed by Nick Willing and starring Zooey Deschanel and Richard Dreyfuss. This modern retelling of the Baum tale earned positive reviews.
For more information visit: http://www.cvlt.org/
| The Wizard of Oz posted on Friday September 19, 2008 |
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© 2008 Plugged In Cleveland - The Wizard of Oz - Chagrin Valley Little Theatre
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