‘The Wizard of Oz’ on Stage
L. Frank Baum’s beloved children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has inspired many adaptations across media since it was first published in 1900. Even before the most well known, the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland, the book had been adapted for the stage—and has continued to grace stages regularly for more than a century. The Library for the Performing Arts preserves a range of special collections that pertain to its various incarnations. Follow the yellow brick road for a look at the illustrious theatrical history of Dorothy and Toto, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion, Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West, and the Wizard himself throughout the collections.
Theatrical Beginnings
Promotional poster for the Majestic Theatre stage production ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ 1903
Billy Rose Theatre Division. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 57575912
The earliest stage adaptations of Oz were written by Baum himself, who had a background in theater, soon after the publication of the first novel. Following an unpublished play in 1901, a musical called The Wizard of Oz—with a book and lyrics by Baum, music by Paul Tietjens, and designs by W.W. Denslow, who had illustrated the book—premiered in Chicago in 1902, transferred to Broadway in 1903, and toured until 1909. From Chicago’s Grand Opera House to Broadway’s Majestic Theatre to stages around the country, The Wizard of Oz was a rousing success, attracting adults and children alike. The Library for the Performing Arts holds photographs, sheet music, costume designs, programs, original illustrations, ephemera, and posters from the original production, many of which are available to view on the Digital Collections website and in person at the Library.
Although The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the first and most popular of Baum’s ventures into Oz, it was just one volume in a series that continued to inspire stage versions, which influenced his novels in turn. The Woggle-Bug (1905), based on the 1904 sequel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, played in Chicago but didn’t make it to Broadway. After another three unproduced attempts, The Tik-Tok Man of Oz played in Los Angeles in 1913. Based on Ozma of Oz (1907) with pieces from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908) and The Road to Oz (1909), it led Baum to write another novel, Tik-Tok of Oz (1914). The early production history of Baum’s work is chronicled in Mark Evan Swartz’s Oz Before the Rainbow: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on Stage and Screen to 1939, available to borrow from the circulating collection at the Library for the Performing Arts.
Screen and Stage Again
Actress Elizabeth Franz (with winged monkey) in a scene from the Papermill Playhouse production of the musical ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (Millburn), 1992
Photo: Martha Swope. Billy Rose Theatre Division. NYPL Digital Collections Image ID: swope_1334373
Stage adaptations helped solidify the land of Oz in the public consciousness, but cinema took its popularity to a new level. Although several silent Oz films were produced, including by Baum himself, between 1910 and 1925, as well as an animated short in 1933, it was the 1939 musical MGM feature with songs by Yip Harburg that became the most famous and lasting legacy of Oz. Nominated for six Academy Awards, it won Best Score and Best Original Song for “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
The film spawned a stage musical of its own in 1942 at The Muny in St. Louis that has had numerous revivals, including with Margaret Hamilton reprising her movie role of the Wicked Witch of the West. The Billy Rose Theatre Division holds Hamilton’s archive, which includes correspondence, photographs, posters, clippings, and more. The MGM film was adapted into a stage musical again by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1987 and Andrew Lloyd Webber in 2011.
Modern Musicals
Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, and company of ‘Wicked,’ 2003
Photo: Joan Marcus. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
In 1975, it was a brand new day for Baum’s work on Broadway with The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical ‘Wonderful Wizard of Oz.’ Featuring an all-Black cast and musical styles popularized by Black artists, The Wiz injected new life into the beloved story, running on Broadway for four years and picking up seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The Music and Recorded Sound Division holds composer Charlie Smalls’s scores, the Billy Rose Theatre Division has producer Ken Harper’s papers, and over 200 production photographs by Martha Swope and Kenn Duncan are in Digital Collections. Several items from the original production are currently on view in the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Many more materials from the Billy Rose Theatre Division—including nearly 1,000 of Swope’s photographs, as well as programs and posters from The Wiz and its revivals—can be accessed at the Library for the Performing Arts. Two recordings of revivals are also available to view in the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.
The stage success of Baum’s work continued into the 21st century with the smash musical hit Wicked, which opened on Broadway in 2003 and is currently the fourth-longest running show in Broadway history. Based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel about the Wicked Witch of the West and featuring an epic score by Stephen Schwartz (Pippin, Godspell), Wicked was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, winning three. The Theatre on Film and Tape Archive has a recording of the show, though it is not available to view while the production is still running. The archive of theater photographer Joan Marcus contains an extensive collection of production photographs from Wicked, and the Library also has the script, score, programs, and more.
2024 is an exciting year for fans of Baum’s work and its offshoots. A revival of The Wiz played at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre, and the first part of a film adaptation of Wicked was released in November. Between stage productions, radio plays, films, television series, books, comics, and games, The Wizard of Oz has proved to be one of the most enduring works of American literature, kept alive and fresh by new creative approaches—and perhaps a little bit of magic.