Wizard of Oz back on Aussie stage after 16 years

John Frost and Suzanne Jones are bringing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s London Palladium production of The Wizard of Oz to Australia.

The Australian Premiere will be held in Brisbane in November, then travel to Sydney in December. This new stage adaptation is a revision of the all-time classic. Developed from the MGM screenplay, it contains the Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg songs from the Oscar-winning movie score, all the favorite characters and iconic moments, plus a few surprises along the way, including new songs by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

“It’s been 16 years since the last Australian tour of The Wizard of Oz,” said John Frost, on behalf of his co-producers. “It’s time to travel the yellow brick road and return to Oz, and the classic story that’s universally loved. This beautiful, sumptuous production was a huge hit in London and the US, and audiences adored the new songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It's wonderful for Queensland to have the Australian Premiere and we are looking forward to a couple of weeks rehearsals there, with hopefully a chance for the cast and creative teams to enjoy some of Queensland's natural beauty. It’s also very exciting to welcome Anthony Warlow back to Australia to star in the title role, and I can’t wait to discover a talented young actress to wear Dorothy’s ruby red slippers and sing one of the most-beloved songs of all time, Over The Rainbow.”

The new production of The Wizard of Oz had its world premiere at The London Palladium Theatre in March 2011. After a successful West End run, the production had its North American premiere in Toronto in December 2012, and then embarked on a US tour from September 2013.

Tickets will be on sale from Monday 29 May in Sydney and Monday 5 June in Brisbane. Waitlist now to be the first in line to purchase tickets at wizardofozthemusical.com