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 own reward." After Baum's death in 1919, Baum's publishers delegated the creation of more sequels to Ruth Plumly Thompson who wrote 21. An original "Oz" book was published every Christmas between 1913 and 1942. By 1956, five million copies of the "Oz" books had been published in the English language, while hundreds of thousands had been published in eight foreign languages. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" has been adapted to other media numerous times, most famously in "The Wizard of Oz", the 1939 film starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr. Until this version, the book had