RSC's WIZARD OF OZ stage adaption

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 6:37pm

okay, I just say a commerical for the TBS re-broadcast of THE WIZARD OF OZ and I happen to have a number of my Wizard of Oz soundtracks and cast recordings as I am reorganizing and a question suddenly popped into my head......

Why has no producer mounted an open run staging of the John Kane/Royal Shakespeare Company adaption od the MGM film on Broadway????

The Wizard of Oz has ALWAYS beena big draw with audiences and it seems producers tend to want shows that they know will draw an audience.... teh RSC adaption always has.... YET, the closest we have gotten to a Broadway run were the limited engagements at Madison Square Garden, which, despite, broadway level talent (for the most part) including teh sublime Jessica Grove wiping away ANY memory of Judy Garland, was essentially and literally a regional theater production not up to par with what you want on Broadway -- it was a transplanted version of the Paper Mill staging albeit cut from over two hours, down to a rapid fire 90 minute playlet -- losing much of Kane's work.

OZ has always had successful runs in EVERY market. It was a smash in London and it recently had a successful, albeit poorly designed and casted, run in Australia.

Withe the right casting and a good creative team, a producer could have a long running show on their hands.. just a thought that came to me................

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 7:43pm

I think if they brought back the MSG version and mounted it on Broadway, they may have a public hit.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 7:46pm

The MSG mounting's production values are no where near Broadway level. As I said, some of the cast was Broadway level, the physical production was not.

[alterego]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 11:25pm

The recent Australian production was actually the third time it has been mounted here. The first was in 1991 (far better design than the recent one, by Roger Kirk who has since been represented on Broadway by the King and I and now 42nd Street). then again in 1993 and most recently the 2001/2 tour. This last tour was very much a cut and paste production using elements of the earlier tours with new sets.They also skimped on cast numbers to the extent that company numbers didn't fill the stage at all.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 11:43pm

"teh [sic] sublime Jessica Grove wiping away ANY memory of Judy Garland..."

Um, yeah. By mentioning Judy you disproved your own theory.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 11:48pm

no.. I just saw the movie today.........

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 11:53pm

Okay. So seeing Jessica wiped away all memory of Judy. So basically you had a memory of the movie, just not of Dorothy? Did seeing the movie today RESTORE the memory of Judy and did you find yourself saying, "I remember Bert Lahr, he's great. But this young woman in Jessica Grove's role... who IS she?"

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 12:02am

Not exactly.. but I did HONESTLY think to myself.. "Jessica played that role better in my opinion" and I wish I had a visual record of her performance as opossed to JUST the CD