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The Wizard of Oz: The Illustrated Vocal Score of the 1903 Musical Extravaganza
The Complete Book and Lyrics of the Broadway Musical. An Oz Unlike Any Other. The Broadway musical sensation of the first part of the last century was L. Frank Baum's own theatrical adaptation of his novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It was a triumph on Broadway when it opened in 1903. It even won the praises of The New York Times. Baum's widely imaginative libretto includes an eccentric cast of characters. There is the anarchist whose bombs never explode, an ex-King staging a coup, a lunatic Munchkin looking for her lost love, and a sassy waitress from Topeka who was caught up in the cyclone too. Dorothy spends little time trying to get back to Kansas as she's caught up in the political intrigue along with the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman. Largely forgotten today, and eclipsed by the MGM movie version, Baum's musical was the most popular musical of its time and stayed that way for two decades.
Paperback
First published December 13, 2011
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About the author
L. Frank Baum
3,277 books2,787 followersalso wrote under the names:
* Edith van Dyne,
* Floyd Akers,
* Schuyler Staunton,
* John Estes Cooke,
* Suzanne Metcalf,
* Laura Bancroft,
* Louis F. Baum,
* Captain Hugh Fitzgerald
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, part of a series. In addition to the 14 Oz books, Baum penned 41 other novels (not including four lost, unpublished novels), 83 short stories, over 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts. He made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen; the 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a landmark of 20th-century cinema.
Born and raised in Chittenango, New York, Baum moved west after an unsuccessful stint as a theater producer and playwright. He and his wife opened a store in South Dakota and he edited and published a newspaper. They then moved to Chicago, where he worked as a newspaper reporter and published children's literature, coming out with the first Oz book in 1900. While continuing his writing, among his final projects he sought to establish a film studio focused on children's films in Los Angeles, California.
His works anticipated such later commonplaces as television, augmented reality, laptop computers (The Master Key), wireless telephones (Tik-Tok of Oz), women in high-risk and action-heavy occupations (Mary Louise in the Country), and the ubiquity of advertising on clothing (Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work).
* Edith van Dyne,
* Floyd Akers,
* Schuyler Staunton,
* John Estes Cooke,
* Suzanne Metcalf,
* Laura Bancroft,
* Louis F. Baum,
* Captain Hugh Fitzgerald
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, part of a series. In addition to the 14 Oz books, Baum penned 41 other novels (not including four lost, unpublished novels), 83 short stories, over 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts. He made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen; the 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a landmark of 20th-century cinema.
Born and raised in Chittenango, New York, Baum moved west after an unsuccessful stint as a theater producer and playwright. He and his wife opened a store in South Dakota and he edited and published a newspaper. They then moved to Chicago, where he worked as a newspaper reporter and published children's literature, coming out with the first Oz book in 1900. While continuing his writing, among his final projects he sought to establish a film studio focused on children's films in Los Angeles, California.
His works anticipated such later commonplaces as television, augmented reality, laptop computers (The Master Key), wireless telephones (Tik-Tok of Oz), women in high-risk and action-heavy occupations (Mary Louise in the Country), and the ubiquity of advertising on clothing (Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 25, 2026
I enjoyed the silver screen and stage adaptations better than the original book. The music and visuals make the wonderful story so much more enchanting.
Displaying 1 of 1 review