The Wizard of Oz (1942 musical) The Wizard of Oz (1942 musical) The Wizard of Oz is a musical commissioned by the St. Louis Municipal Opera (The Muny) based on the novel, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum and the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz" and using the film's songs by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. The book of the musical is by Frank Gabrielson, who would later write an adaptation of "The Marvelous Land of Oz" for Shirley Temple (1960). The musical was first presented in 1942 at The Muny and has been revived many times thereafter, both by The Muny
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz continued to include these faces on gates. Baum did not offer any conclusive proof that he intended his novel to be a political allegory. Historian Ranjit S. Dighe wrote that for 60 years after the book's publication, "virtually nobody" had such an interpretation until Henry Littlefield, a high-school teacher. In his 1964 "American Quarterly" article, "The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism", Littlefield posited that the book contained an allegory of the late 19th-century bimetallism debate regarding monetary policy. Littlefield's thesis achieved some support, but has been strenuously attacked by others. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" has become an established