A New Stage Version of 'The Wizard of Oz' Is Bringing Its Yellow Brick Road to Melbourne This Winter
Head off to see the wizard at this new production at Melbourne's National Theatre.
In August 2023, Wicked will unleash its spin on The Wizard of Oz — and one of Broadway's biggest hits of the 21st century — upon Sydney, in what's set to be one of the Harbour City's theatre highlights of the year. But fans of faraway realms, yellow brick roads and toe-tapping songs in Melbourne can get their fix right here at home, all thanks to a new stage production of the show that started it all.
This winter, from Thursday, June 29–Sunday, July 9, consider the Victorian capital's National Theatre somewhere over the rainbow. You'll be off to see the wizard there, too. There's never a bad time to pop on your ruby slippers, and hasn't been for the past 84 years since the page-to-screen hit first reached cinemas — including when theatre outfit Theatrical give The Wizard of Oz a whirl.
More than 30 performers will tread the boards, led by Lyla Digrazia — a veteran of Theatrical's Freaky Friday — as Dorothy. Kael D'Alterio (Matilda) plays Scarecrow, Ashley Wilsnach (Spring Awakening) gets shiny as Tin Man and Leigh Roncon (Chicago) will seek courage as the Cowardly Lion. Also in key roles: Keyanna Burgher (Into the Woods) as the Wicked Witch, Isobel Smart (also Freaky Friday) as both Glinda the Good Witch and Aunt Em, and Jason Fabbri (Beauty and the Beast) stepping behind the curtain as the Wizard.
As they act out the storyline for director Kim Anderson, audiences will also hear all of the tracks that everyone has stuck in their head forever, including Oscar-winner 'Over the Rainbow', 'We're Off to See the Wizard', 'Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead', 'If I Only Had a Brain' and 'The Merry Old Land of Oz'. But, this show isn't without changes, including moving the action forward in time.
"The Wizard of Oz is a delightful classic, a musical I have directed once before. For this new production, we are shifting from the traditional look of the show, and making our female characters grounded and fiercely independent," said Anderson, announcing the production.
"We will be setting the story in a time period not too far off into the future from our own. It's a bit steampunk; think of a cross between 1930s dustbowl and Jules Verne. The heartwarming story, loveable characters and iconic songs remain, woven into a new fantasy world."
For those who've somehow missed the 1939 classic flick so far, it adapts the 1900 novel The Wonderful World of Oz by L Frank Baum. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale (played by Judy Garland in the movie) and her little dog Toto are whisked off from her Kansas farm to the titular realm, where she needs to avoid the Wicked Witch of the West — and find the eponymous wizard to make it home. To locate the latter, a stroll down a certain golden path with the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion is on the agenda.
Check out the trailer for the film below:
The Wizard of Oz plays Melbourne's National Theatre from Thursday, June 29–Sunday, July 9, with tickets on sale now.
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