The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (musical) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (musical) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a musical play based on the novel of the same title by L. Frank Baum that premiered at the Toronto Civic Light Opera Company in 2000. The lyrics are by James Patrick Doyle and Joe Cascone, the music is by Doyle and the book is by Cascone who also directed. This company describes the show as the most requested in their repertory and revived it in 2002 and again in 2010. Joe Cascone, artistic director of the Toronto Civic Light Opera Company, had long wanted to stage a
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was exposed to many people, so the inspiration for the story could have been taken from many different aspects of his life. In the introduction to the story, Baum writes that "it aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out." This is one of the explanations that he gives for the inspiration for "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Baum, a former salesman of china, wrote in chapter 20 about china that had sprung to life. The original illustrator of the novel, W. W. Denslow, could