The Wizard of Oz (1942 musical) orchestrated for a traditional pit orchestra instrumentation: woodwinds, brass, percussion, piano and strings, with a minimum of 22 musicians. Additional dance music is included, and the Wizard takes Dorothy home in a rocket ship instead of a hot air balloon. Revivals have featured Margaret Hamilton, Cass Daley, Mary Wickes and Phyllis Diller as the Wicked Witch of the West. Cathy Rigby has played Dorothy at The Muny. Among Gabrielson's many additions are a skeletal butler, "Tibia", serving the Wicked Witch. Other new characters include Joe, Banana Man, Queen of the Butterflies, Old Lady, Lord Growlie, the Wizard's daughter Gloria, and
Political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz people (and even the Good Witches) into believing he is benevolent, wise, and powerful when really he is a selfish, evil humbug. He sends Dorothy into severe danger hoping she will rid him of his enemy the Wicked Witch of the West. He is powerless and, as he admits to Dorothy, "I'm a very bad Wizard". Hugh Rockoff suggested in 1990 that the novel was an allegory about the demonetization of silver in 1873, whereby “the cyclone that carried Dorothy to the Land of Oz represents the economic and political upheaval, the yellow brick road stands for the gold standard,