Synopsis

Act One

A young girl, Dorothy Gale, lives on a farm in Kansas with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and little dog, Toto. Feeling unappreciated, she dreams of a far away place ("Over the Rainbow"). Miss Gulch, their unpleasant neighbor, serves Dorothy with a summons to take Toto away. He escapes from her bicycle basket, and Dorothy runs away from home with him. On the road, they find a showman, Professor Marvel, who urges her to return to the farm. Dorothy arrives home just as a tornado touches down. She and Toto are locked out of the storm cellar. In her house, she is accidentally hit on the head by a window.

The house is carried by the tornado to the Land of Oz. Dorothy meets the Munchkins and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (who resembles Aunt Em). Her house has fallen upon, and killed, the Wicked Witch of the East. This frees the Munchkins from her power, and they treat Dorothy as their heroine ("Come Out, Come Out"; "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead"). The Wicked Witch of the West (who resembles Miss Gulch) arrives to claim her sister's magic ruby slippers and vows to avenge her death. Glinda has already put the slippers on Dorothy's feet, further infuriating the witch. Dorothy wants to go home to Kansas. The Munchkins tell her that the Wizard of Oz will know what to do ("Follow the Yellow Brick Road"). She starts off towards the Emerald City.

Dorothy and Toto meet three strange traveling companions, each of whom needs help: The Scarecrow's head is full of straw ("If I Only Had a Brain"). The rusty Tin Man's chest is empty ("If I Only Had a Heart") and the Cowardly Lion is afraid of his own tail ("If I Only Had the Nerve"). Dorothy invites them all to join her to see if the Wizard can help them ("We're Off to See the Wizard"). The Wicked Witch of the West threatens them along the way but fails to intimidate Dorothy into giving up the ruby slippers. She creates a beautiful field of poppies, but their scent is poisonous. Glinda rescues the travelers by covering the poppies with snowflakes ("Optimistic Voices"). They then finally reach the Emerald City.

Act Two

The Emerald City's Gatekeeper tries to discourage the travelers, but they are persistent and gain entry ("The Merry Old Land of Oz"). They are washed, combed and buffed, but the Wizard refuses to meet them. The Wicked Witch makes another ominous appearance, and the Lion wishes more than ever for courage ("If I Were King of the Forest"). Finally taken to see the fearsome Wizard, the four friends are given a quest to prove themselves worthy of his assistance: they must bring him the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West, and the only way to do that would be to kill her.

The friends leave in fear and haste for the land of the Winkies (whom the Wicked Witch has enslaved and forced to serve in her army) and her castle ("March of the Winkies"). In a haunted forest, the jitterbugs make the travelers dance until they all collapse from exhaustion ("The Jitterbug"). The Wicked Witch's winged monkeys then attack, swooping away with Dorothy and Toto. The witch still does not have the power to take the ruby slippers off of Dorothy's feet ("Over the Rainbow" (reprise)). Toto manages to escape and help the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion to find her. They disguise themselves in Winkie uniforms and sneak into the castle. They find her, but the Wicked Witch foils their escape. She attacks the Scarecrow with fire, and Dorothy throws a bucket of water at him, accidentally dousing the witch, causing her to melt into nothing ("Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" (reprise)). The friends take her broom back to the Emerald City.

The Wizard is again reluctant to meet Dorothy and friends. Toto pulls aside the curtain behind which the Wizard is revealed as an ordinary man (who resembles Professor Marvel) using a microphone to make his voice impressive. Nevertheless, he is able to help the travelers. He conducts a graduation exercise, awarding the Scarecrow a doctorate of Thinkology, appoints the Lion as a member of the Legion of Courage, and presents the Tin Man with a heart-shaped ticker – a watch. Finally, he reveals that he is from the prairies himself and offers to give Dorothy a ride back to Kansas in the hot-air balloon that brought him to Oz. It takes off while she is distracted, and she is afraid that she missed her chance to go home, but Glinda arrives. She says that Dorothy has the power all along to transport herself and Toto by clicking her heels together three times and repeating "There's no place like home".

Dorothy wakes up in Kansas with a bump on her head. The tornado has passed. Miss Gulch broke her leg when the storm blew down a telegraph pole – she won't be riding her bicycle any time soon. Dorothy is overjoyed to see her family and friends, whom she appreciates more than ever.

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