Credits:

By: L. Frank Baum, Music/ Lyrics by Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg, Background music by  Herbert Stothart  

Dance/Vocal arrangements by Peter Howard, Orchestration by Larry Wilcox, Adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company

Based upon the Classic Motion Picture owned by Turner Entertainment Co. and distributed in all media by Warner Bros.

THE WIZARD OF OZ is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Tam-Witmark LLC.        www.concordtheatricals.com

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Story:

In rural Kansas, we start this story among the rolling prairies, sun-scorched earth, and the occasional cyclones.  Dorothy, a young orphaned girl, lives here in a small, sun-faded house with her dear Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. They were farmers, once young and spry with a shining gleam in their eyes. But the years were harsh before Dorothy came to live with them, and they grew to be as gray as the dried-up grass around them. Dorothy hoped to escape this fate and found joy in her little dog Toto. 

One day, the sky was a bit grayer than usual, and the clouds were swirling around in the sky. Uncle Henry had seen this before and promptly yelled, " Run for the cellar, there's a cyclone coming!". As he and Aunt Em disappeared into a small hole into safety, Toto wiggled out of Dorothy's arms as she ran for cover. Frightened for herself and Toto, Dorothy ran after Toto and finally caught him. However, the storm had moved in quickly, and Dorothy took shelter in the house. Halfway to the cellar, she felt a large jerk shutter through the floorboards, forcing her to the ground. As she looked up and through the windows, she found herself and the house slowly spiraling up through the air. Hours passed as the house floated inside the powerful cyclone, slowly rocking Dorothy to sleep. 

When she finally awoke she bolted up from the floor, and searched desperately for Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. However, they were nowhere in sight.  In her panic, she ran to the front door and threw it open, but to her surprise, the gray, dried prairies were gone. Instead, golden sunlight streamed into the house through luscious, full trees and brilliant green foliage.  She wasn't in Kansas anymore.

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Come see the rest of the story in person to find out where Dorothy's journey takes her as she tries to find her family and return to Kansas in this strange new land.