Joe Cascone, artistic director of the Toronto Civic Light Opera Company, had long wanted to stage a musical of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that was truer to Baum's original intentions, and as such, was able to incorporate various influences from the many adaptations of the story produced throughout the 20th century, including the original 1903 musical, the famous 1939 MGM film, the musical The Wiz and several others. In writing the libretto for the new musical, Cascone made Baum a character in the play as a narrator, also doubling as the Wizard. Composer and lyricist James Patrick Doyle was a long time Oz admirer who restored some of the music from Baum's The Maid of Arran, the 1902 Wizard, The Woggle-Bug, The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, Prince Silverwings, and The Patchwork Girl of Oz, which had not been heard in recent decades. The production premiered in 2000 at the Toronto Civic Light Opera Company, directed by Cascone with choreography by Lesley Ansell. Two original cast albums were released. One by Hungry Tiger Music in 2000, and one by The Civic Light Opera Company in 2002, featuring the revised score. The Toronto Civic Light Opera revived the show in 2002 and again in 2010. Joe Cascone and David Haines, of the original and revival casts, presented highlights of this musical as well as of many other Oz musical incarnations at the International Wizard of Oz Club's Winkie Convention at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California, on July 9, 2011 as part of a concert entitled "Songs in the Key of Oz" which is also available on CD. The show is to be presented again from November 29 to December 10, 2017 at the Zion Cultural Centre, Toronto featuring members of the original 2000, 2002 and 2010 casts along with several newcomers to the various roles.
Songs
The original cast album was recorded October 27, 2000, at Grace Church Chapel on the Hill, Toronto.
+ Cut from 2017 production The score was largely re-recorded and released on a second CD in 2002 by The Civic Light Opera Company to reflect many of the musical changes that had been made since the original version had been made in the preceding two years. This CD is available through http://www.civiclightoperacompany.com/wizard_of_oz.html
and various Farmers, Munchkins, Crows, Kalidahs, Poppies, Field Mice, Emerald City Citizens, Winged Monkeys, Winkies, Hammerheads, Fighting Trees, Quadlings The role of Dorothy was originally played by Kelly Sanders in 2000 and 2002. In the 2010 production, Olivia Stupka and Alisa Berindea alternated in the role of Dorothy. Nicole Burda will assume the role of Dorothy for the 2017 production. Members of the original casts to reprise their original roles again in 2017 are David Haines as the Cowardly Lion, Joe Cascone as L. Frank Baum/Wizard and Sandi Horwitz as Locasta.
