The Wizard of Oz is back gracing our collective national stages in a brand new, but classically traditional production of one of music theatre’s most loved stories and scores. This bright and breezy production from Andrew Lloyd Webber has some fresh and welcome changes to the original book, including adaptations by him and the production’s director, Jeremy Sams, adding dialogue and depth to help flesh out some of the characters.

Additionally, Lloyd Webber, working with his long-term lyricist and collaborator Tim Rice, has written eight new songs for the work, giving voice to the witches as well as the Wizard and Professor Marvel. The result is a clever and subtle blending of original and new, the introduced songs not intrusive but rather integrated in a respectful melange that works well. Particularly memorable is the Wicked Witch of the West’s song Red Shoe Blues with some delicious lyrics from Rice that cleverly rhyme words such as ‘clueless’ with ‘shoeless’ to great effect. The Wizard’s Bring me the Broomstick that closes Act 1 is also a powerful addition to the score, while the sentimentality of the finale Home is a Place in Your...