If your staging is for a younger audience and you’re looking for a lighter, more RSC version feel, why not choose colorful hills that could easily belong to countryside OZ? While it is not as dark and scary as a haunted forest, you can still imagine the ominous Jitterbugs hiding in the shadows.

Next is the Tin Man, who is rusting away out of reach of his oil can.įor the MUNY version, you might want to go with an enchanted forest backdrop that is charming, yet mysterious. The hapless Scarecrow is the first to join our heroine. As Dorothy begins her trek to find the Wizard, she meets unlikely characters who become her trusted and faithful companions. The Road to Oz/The ForestĮven in Oz, it’s not safe to travel alone. Your audience can join her as she starts off along the Yellow Brick Road, which is featured prominently in these drops. It’s only a matter of time before Dorothy stands before the Witch’s wrath wearing the infamous Ruby Slippers. The Wicked Witch of the West, with her dark costume and verdant skin, will stand out in hideous contrast against all this color and light. One can also imagine danger lurking just out of sight, like nasty Miss Gulch descending on the farm to torment poor Dorothy and her little dog, too.īut not everything in OZ is bright and cheerful, and even Munchkinland is not safe. Evocative of old-timey farm country, the road leading off into the distance still suggests a journey, a longing for what lies beyond the horizon. Some clever and colorful costuming or lighting against this black-and-white backdrop can go a long way to really capture that contrast. Let’s take a walk through the show and get creative! Kansasĭorothy is a bright young girl railing against the bland, austere simplicity of farmland Kansas.

This means that, depending on your audience and your creative desires, there are endless ways to backdrop this beloved tale. The MUNY version is more faithful to the book and the RSC version tracks closer to the film version.

For one thing, there are two different licensable versions of the show. Luckily, Oz is a show full of choices with potential to wow your audiences. We all want the deafening applause at the end of the night. From casting to staging to lighting to performing, every choice builds on the other.

Frank Baum’s beloved tale of displacement, enchantment, friendship, and loyalty has been reinvented time and again over, and with each retelling it seems to grow ever stronger. Over the last 110 years, it has been remade many times over for musical theatre, film, and television. The Wizard of Oz first appeared as a stage play in 1903.

The wizard of oz play script short play