Bill Kenwright News

Last week, the Wizard of Oz cast joined members of the creative team for technical rehearsals at the London Palladium. We caught up with some of the cast as they had their first glimpse of the wonderful world of Oz, and our Resident Director Kate introduces us to some of the many talented departments working on the show. You might recognise our previous interviewee Rob Jones and blogger Matt Towell in there!

We caught up with the Wizard of Oz cast during the last few weeks of rehearsals - here they all are to say hello!

Recently, members of The Wizard of Oz creative team popped along to a film studio to shoot a very special bit of 'Green Screen' footage that will be used in the upcoming production. Here, resident director Kate Golledge, takes us behind the scenes to see what went on - let us know if you spot the footage in the show!

Wizard of Oz Production Manager Matt takes us back to the London Palladium to see how the theatre's looking as the first preview approaches - only a few weeks to go!

Making its London premiere, Ayckbourn's sharp and timely comedy about the cult of celebrity will be performed for four weeks at the Jermyn Street Theatre, with previews from February 22nd 2011. First performed at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 2004, Drowning on Dry Land will run until March 19th, with a press night on February 24th.

Making its London premiere, Ayckbourn's sharp and timely comedy about the cult of celebrity will be performed for four weeks at the Jermyn Street Theatre, with previews from February 22nd 2011.

In the second part of our interview with Wizard of Oz Set and Costume Designer Rob Jones, he tells us how everything in Oz land is coming together...

A short clip of our Dorothy, Danielle Hope, as she rehearses with her Toto ahead of Opening Night - which is drawing ever closer!

Gaiety Theatre announces their schedule from January through June.

Check out the first instalment of our interview with Rob Jones, Wizard of Oz Set and Costume Designer, who reveals the details of the design process from sketchbook to stage - and how he and his team work with Production Manager and regular Oz Blogger Matt Towell to create the fantastic land of Oz…

We head back to the Wizard of Oz rehearsal rooms to catch up with some of the company's swings - Olly, Becky, Ceili and Anna - who take some time out to explain to us exactly what being a swing means!

Andrew Lloyd Webber's new The Wizard of Oz promises to be the biggest theatre event of the year, combining all the much-loved songs from the Oscar-winning movie score with new songs. Now, the full cast for the much anticipated show has been revealed. Joining the previously announced MICHAEL CRAWFORD (Professor Marvel/The Wizard of Oz), DANIELLE HOPE (Dorothy), EDWARD BAKER-DULY (Hickory/Tin Man), DAVID GANLY (Zeke/Cowardly Lion), PAUL KEATING (Hunk/Scarecrow), EMILY TIERNEY (Glinda), and HANNAH WADDINGHAM (Miss Gulch/Wicked Witch of the West) are: SOPHIE EVANS (Alternate Dorothy), STEPHEN SCOTT (Uncle Henry/Ensemble, first cover Professor Marvel/The Wizard of Oz), and HELEN WALSH (Aunt Em/Munchkin Barrister/Ensemble).

In his latest update, Production Manager Matt Towell takes us backstage at the London Palladium (which turned 100 on 26th December 2010) to see how the set's progressing as we move ever-closer to Opening Night…

Talking to the UK Telegraph, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber tells the paper that The Wizard of Oz, which opens in February 2011 in London (and already has a $13+ million dollar advance) will play America next, with talks underway to do a television casting show for Dorothy as he's done in the UK. Britain's loss could be America's gain, however. 'A couple of the networks in the US have wanted to build something around what I do on TV, and I think with Oz something is definitely going to happen there. The X Factor juggernaut is going to be huge there next year but other networks are looking for something to go against it. Once we've found a Dorothy in the US, my instinct is to open the show in Kansas [Dorothy's home].'

More from Production Manager Matt Towell as he shows us how the London Palladum is being transformed - this time we're BELOW the stage - and it's a bit noisy again!

Earlier this week, Dorothy, Danielle Hope performed 'Over the Rainbow' at the Royal Variety Performance in London at the Palladium. Michael Crawford, who will play The Wizard, introduced the segment.

We popped down to the rehearsal studios at the beginning of the week to see how the cast, creatives and crew of The Wizard of Oz got on on their first day of rehearsals. Choreographer Arlene Phillips welcomes us, we catch up with Hannah Waddingham and Danielle Hope, and spot a few more familiar faces in the rehearsal room - from Andrew Lloyd Webber to Michael Crawford to Tim Rice….

Meet our Toto! Regular visitors will be familiar with the antics of our "Cast by TV" Toto, Dangerous Dave, who was selected by the special panel of judges on the BBC's Over the Rainbow programme to appear at a special one-off gala performance of The Wizard of Oz ; however for every other performance of the show the role will be played a specially-trained dog… And so Bobbie, veteran of stage and screen, will soon be treading the boards of the world-famous London Palladium stage when The Wizard of Oz opens in February - you can get an early glimpse of Bobbie in action when he appears alongside Danielle Hope and 58 children in tomorrow evening's broadcast of The Royal Variety Performance (BBC1, Thursday 16th December, 8pm). In this video, Jerry Cott, Bobbie's owner and trainer, talks us through Toto's training schedule for the lead up to the big day…

In our latest video blog with Wizard of Oz Production Manager Matt Towell, he takes us on another (slightly noisy) tour of the London Palladium to see how the set-build is progressing. And this time, we're actually above the stage..! Watch out for more from the London Palladium and find more videos on the Wizard of Oz YouTube channel.

Last week we went backstage at the London Palladium to see our Dorothy Danielle Hope in rehearsal for the 2011 Royal Variety Performance, which saw her take to the Palladium stage ahead of her starring role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Danielle was introduced at the Royal Variety Performance, which was recorded live at the Palladium on Thursday 9th December, by our Wizard Michael Crawford. You can see her performance on the show in full on BBC1, Thursday 16th December from 8pm.