Wizard of Oz crew with Claudia Winkleman

With the curtain about to rise on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new production of The Wizard of Oz, we accompany some of of the cast and crew along the yellow brick road to discover more about the latest stage adaptation of one of the world’s best loved movies.

Claudia Winkelman’s Arts Show on BBC Radio2 will be accompanying some of the cast and crew along the yellow brick road tonight Feb 3rd at 22:00 to find out all about the latest stage adaptation of The Wizard of Oz

My mistake one show is Friday guys!!! Filming it today sorry

Danielle Hope is on The One Show on, Friday January 28th at 7.00pm. Danielle is of course in the middle of rehearsals playing Dorothy in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical The Wizard of Oz, which starts previews in just over a week’s time now! The first Wizard of Oz performance should be at the London Palladium on 7th February 2011.

The One Show visits Danielle Hope with Toto in her dressing room at the London Palladium. The One Show is on on BBC1 at 7:00 pm

The latest Dorothy hopeful to hand back her shoes was unexpectedly Bronte Barbe. She was not really expected to go out so early, and Andrew Lloyd Webber had said that both contenders for eviction were in his top five to go all the way and get the part. The public vote disagreed. Linda from London Theatre Breaks blog put her in the top five too:

About Bronte Barbe

Bronte comes from Macclesfield, a quiet, sensible town at the edge of the Peak District. It’s not quite Kansas but I expect it sometimes feels like it to someone like Bronte! She lives there with her Mum, sister and dog. She’s only 18 and she’d been working as a volunteer teacher at her former dance school before the show. She does have some amateur musical theatre experience and she’s got her Grade 8. I think she’ll do well and she could have been Dorothy.

Over the Rainbow Show 5 put an end to Bronte’s Dreams of the Emerald City

One not quite brilliant performance of K.T. Tunstall’s Suddenly I See and Bronte was doomed to be in the bottom two. I thought quite a few of the Dorothies were on dodgy ground on Saturday night’s show. The producers had given them all songs that went against type. Some of the girls pulled it off but I agreed with the public vote that both Bronte and Lauren struggled. I though Sophie struggled even more than either of them though so I was surprised that she survived.

Steph on the other hand was a revelation singing “It’s So Quiet” she seemed to finally get her R&B warbling under control and give us a real musical theatre number. Very nice! Not sure she’s Dorothy but still, very nice.

So why did ALW save Lauren? He said it was down to experience and Lauren is 22 against Bronte’s 18. However I also think Lauren has a stronger voice. She might even be Dorothy if she can just stop mugging to the camera!

Goodbye Bronte

My Favourites for Dorothy

My favourites at the moment, in no particular order (where did I get that idea from?) are:

Jenny Douglas – Good voice & full of life and devilment.

Danielle Hope – Reasonable voice, good stage presence. A strong dancer she has that adolescent quality that Dorothy will need.

Dani Rayner – Lovely voice, looks the part, just a bit worried about her acting skills and very young at only 16.

And almost any of the others – it is as they say, all to play for, and the standard is so high that one slip can be fatal. I’d feel sorry for them but I know how well many previous losers have done! Talent won’t be ignored and for some of them not being Dorothy might be the best career move they’ll ever make! Bronte would make a smashing Glinda for Wicked

Do you think you could be Andrew Lloyd Webber’s next leading lady? Would you give anything to become Dorothy in the new London West End production of The Wizard of Oz?

Follow in the footsteps of previous winners Connie Fisher, Lee Mead and Jodie Prenger by applying to be part of a TV show challenge to find Dorothy, this one called “Over The Rainbow” beginning in 2010.

Dorothy Wanted for Over The Rainbow

The BBC has just opened applications for their newest reality TV show ‘Over The Rainbow’ , to be judged by a team including Andrew Lloyd Webber and the voting public. Auditions are open to everyone, no matter how much or how little experience you have and nationwide auditions for Dorothy begin in January 2010. All applicants must have been aged 16 or over by 26 June 2009.

Apply online now to book your audition