Drew Barrymore is set to direct the film “Surrender Dorothy,” which will be a “loose sequel” to the classic 1939 movie musical “The Wizard of Oz”.

Drew Barrymore

Barrymore has been developing the project for years, and at one point appeared set to play Dorothy’s great-great-granddaughter, who learns to use the ruby slippers’ power when the Wicked Witch unexpectedly returns to take over Oz and the earth. It’s unclear if Barrymore will still take the role or just direct. Now “Surrender Dorothy” is just one out of five “Oz” films that have been reported as being in development recently, following the big box-office success of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Possible films include “Oz the Great and Powerful,” a Disney project that would show how the Wizard came to Oz. There may also be a film version of “Wicked”, the musical prequel to the story, which has been fabulously successful on Broadway and in the London West End.

The Wizard of Oz is such a classic musical for any theatre company to put on that is stands to reason there will be a production of some sort current at almost any time of year. From June 1st Wales’ leading amateur theatre company, Orbit, celebrates its 41st year with the opening night of a week-long run of its own version of The Wizard of Oz at the New Theatre in Cardiff.
Dorothy is sung by Nicola Caldwell and the Wales Online reporter Dave Owens spoke to her about the role: Nicola Caldwell: I’m 22 years old, I come from Penarth and I’ve just qualified from university as a primary school teacher. Probably the biggest role I’ve done is Les Miserables in London’s West End for the 20th anniversary, which was fantastic. They chose 3,000 kids under 18 to apply, I was 17 at the time, and had done a school edition of the show. Out of the 3,000 who auditioned and sent tapes off, 35 got in. And I was one of the lucky ones! It’s every little girl’s dream, to play Dorothy, isn’t it, to wear the red ruby slippers and sing Over The Rainbow? It’s such an honour. It’s the archetypal dream role.

On the runner-up, Welsh girl Sophie Evans, and the winner, Danielle Hope? Nicola: Actually I liked the girl who finished third, Lauren Samuels. She was my favourite. She was really bubbly and very magnanimous and gracious when she went out. The Wizard of Oz is showing at the New Theatre in Cardiff from 1st 5th June Orbit Theatre

Wizard of Oz – Orbit Theatre Company

By L. FRANK BAUM With Music and Lyrics of the MGM motion picture score by HAROLD ARLEN and E.Y. HARBURG Background Music by HERBERT STOTHART Book Adaptation by JOHN KANE from the motion picture screenplay Tuesday 1st to Saturday 5th June 2010 New Theatre Park Place Cardiff Book Online via The New Theatre, Cardiff

If you are eagerly looking forward to seeing the newly emerged Wizard of Oz Dorothy, Danielle Hope, winner of Over the Rainbow it may be worth taking note of the following information when booking tickets for next year. Danielle is not guaranteed to play the following performances of Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium on: Tuesdays. The winner’s annual holidays have also been reserved as: Week commencing 2nd May 2011 Week commencing 5th September 2011 Week commencing 12th September 2011 Of course nothing can really be guaranteed and in the event of illness etc the part of Dorothy will be played by an understudy but if you want the best possible chance of seeing Danielle Hope in the role then avoid booking Wizard f of Oz tickets or theatre breaks for a Tuesday or those three weeks in May and September next year.

Danielle Hope

Danielle Hope winner of the part of Dorothy in the forthcoming Wizard of Oz musical in London triumphantly sings “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” for the last time on the TV casting show, but not for the last time by any means in her new career as a West End Star – Yes you are Danielle!!

Danielle Hope Fans

There’s been a lot of focus on the singing and dancing performances of the remaining Dorothys but which one would really be best suited to playing the part night after night in Wizard of Oz? One of the recent missions was about maintaining the Kansas accent and here you can see each of four contestants in a scene from Wizard of Oz that allows us to really evaluate their abilities as actors.

Now Andrew Lloyd Webber seemed to be bowled over by Danielle, so we get a clue here perhaps as to who he would like to see the public vote for tonight, but he also praises Lauren’s professionalism and wonders if she can pull out just a little bit more from inside her own emotion for us. Personally, I found the Danielle performance just a tad drawn out and over done, but there’s no doubt she would make a smashing Dorothy, as would any of them really.

Over the rainbow – Mission

After watching them each have a go at the real acting, who do you think comes out of this mission in the best position for tonight’s vote?

On Saturday 22nd May, the winning Dorothy will be finally chosen by Over The Rainbow viewers, and now it has been announced that the lucky Dorothy, as well as going on to play the part in The Wizard of Oz when it opens in London next April, will also get to release a single of the iconic ‘Over The Rainbow’ song, as first sung by Judy Garland in the 1939 film.

Wizard of oz

The charity single will be rushed out as a download available from midnight on Sunday 23rd May and all profits net of agreed expenses will be split fifty-fifty between two favoured charities of the TV show’s producers, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and the BBC: Prostate UK and The BBC Performing Arts Fund. But the big question remains, whose voice will be singing “Over The Rainbow” on the charity single – will it be Lauren, Sophie or Danielle?

Sierra Boggess From Love Never Dies spent some time with the Dorothys last week giving advice and answering questions, specifically related to maintaining the stamina needed to fulfil the requirements of performing up to 8 times a week on the West End stage in London. She explained that the winning Dorothy who gets to perform in The Wizard Of Oz can expect not just a wonderful job but also a complete lifestyle as a leading lady. Sierra was impressed that the amount of working being put in by all at the Dorothy house was already a good preparation for the real thing. On Sunday night’s Over The Rainbow, Sierra Boggess performed the title song from the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Love Never Dies

Sierra Boggess

Sierra Boggess sang Love Never Dies on BBC1’s Over the Rainbow show last night

The show is a casting competition for another Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, The Wizard of Oz which opens in London in April 2011 with a Leading Lady – the part of Dorothy, chosen by the public. Sierra Boggess helped out with the final four contestants during the week giving them advice on singing, stamina, and the West End Leading Lady lifestyle which the lucky winner might expect.

Sadly, it was Steph Fearon’s time to go. All three Over The Rainbow judges agreed, the public had voted her into the bottom two and Andrew Lloyd Webber saved Lauren instead. Steph herself looked almost relieved by the decision, and was clearly thrilled to bits by the standing ovation she received from the vast studio audience. So now we are down to the final three Dorothys to be ranked by public vote only in the final episode of Over The Rainbow next Saturday. Steph’s Performance of Rule The World:

The Sing off, Sunday

Another Suitcase in Another Hall from Evita Goodbye Steph

“I’m disappointed not to have gone that little bit further but at the end of the day I wanted whatever the public wanted,” said Steph. Steph Fearon, admits she would love to star in the West End musicals The Lion King, Wicked or Sister Act, and also said that Andrew Lloyd Webber had asked to meet her later this week to discuss her future.

I thought it would be interesting to go back over something Andrew Lloyd Webber said about The Wizard of Oz and Over The Rainbow way back during one of the early audition sessions, in fact in Scotland. Andrew Lloyd Webber talked about Over The Rainbow and the Wizard Of Oz production as one of his most ambitious projects yet but said he wanted to steer clear of the classic 1939 movie. He said: This is the most difficult show I’ve had to cast. Joseph, Oliver and Maria all came from established theatre productions which are huge hits. The Wizard Of Oz has been done before, but it’s never worked properly because they’ve tried to recreate the movie too closely. I’m essentially writing a whole new musical with some of the greatest songs ever written and composing completely new music for it. There’s at least half a dozen new songs. So that’s a tantalising insight into what the forthcoming London production at The Palladium promisies. A new musical with half a dozen new songs, a fantastic Dorothy (no matter who wins) all based on but not recreating the original American story.

Oh noes! Not Jessica??! Jessica Robinson became the surprise second victim of the double knock out weekend yesterday on Over The Rainbow simply because the public voted her into the bottom two alongside of Danielle, who ought really to be the outright favourite to win. Given that dreadful choice, it was probably no choice at all that Danielle had to be saved but it still doesn’t seem right that Jessica should be out of the competition at this stage. When asked why she thought she had managed to avoid the bottom two so far, Jess put it down to her amazing fan base, but I’m afraid they let her down, just the once. Ah well, what else happened…? The mashup was a medley of songs, two from Fiddler on the roof and some pop songs.

Who catches your eye for most of the time when watching the group performances? If They Could See Me Now Tamsin Outhwaite returned to Over The Rainbow, this time to perform herself and show the girls exactly how it’s done.

Tamsin Outhwaite performs “If They Could See Me Now” from current West End smash hit musical Sweet Charity The Sing Off Danielle and Jessica were given an Andrew Lloyd Webber composition for the inevitable sing off, Take That Look Off Your Face from “Tell Me On A Sunday”

Goodbye Jessica Jessica seemed to be genuinely grateful for having the good fortune to last through the show as long as she had done, and I’m sure leaves us with the confidence that she has a bright career in musical theatre ahead of her,  (if not in Wizard Of Oz) as she sings Somewhere over The Rainbow and heads for flying moon.

Jenny Douglas Is Not Dorothy

Jenny Douglas from Scotland was the first casualty of the weekend’s double eviction special of Over The Rainbow. Jenny showed increased competence in her singing but failed the test of working with Toto the dog! Understandably perhaps, For Andrew Lloyd Webber, that was enough to rule out Jenny from being in The Wizard of OZ when it opens in London’s West End in March 2011. Over The Rainbow started this week with a group rendition of the powerful musical theatre song “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. Normally a big solo number, it was slightly odd to hear this a little under performed by the six Dorothys but then it hadn’t really been explained that this was Musical Theatre week. So firstly, Danielle sang “On My Own” from the musical, Les Miserables impeccably as always. Then it was the turn of Jenny with her version of Send In The Clowns from the musical, A Little Night Music. By the way, has anybody else noticed that the musical phrase for Send in The Clowns is just like Love Never Dies?  Jenny received a mixed response from the judges. Jessica this week took on the Mary Poppins classic, Supercalifragilistic or rather in full, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, as song which potentially leaves little for an individualist performer to build on but to my surprise, Jessica managed to to turn it into an entertaining music hall number. Who’d have thought it. Jessica deserves a place in the semi finals. Lauren performed Being Alive from the Sondheim musical, “Company” and once again I felt, justfied staying in the show right up to the line. Steph was given the well known song “Somewhere” from the musical West Side Story and rose to the occasion yet again by showing just how far she has improved in confidence with her new found variation in singing styles. Sophie has managed to evade the sing offs recently, and once again she avoided the bottom two with a splendidly up tempo version of “I Enjoy Being A Girl” from Flower Drum Song by Rodgers and Hammerstein, a less well known musical based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Chinese American author C. Y. Lee. In the end, Jenny found herself in the bottom two alongside Lauren Samuels. I don’t know what Lauren was doing there, but it’s a public vote so anything can happen. They had to sing a duet rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, a song which I have never cared for, but whichthey managed to turn almost into a musical theatre piece. Andrew Lloyd Webber then wasted no time in saving Lauren, citing Jenny’s failure to control Toto as the reason why she would have been too much of a risk on the Wizard Of Oz Stage. Five Remaining Dorothy Contenders So the five girls remaining are Lauren Samuels, Jessica Robinson, Danielle Hope, Sophie Evans and Steph Fearon, with one more due to be eliminated on Sunday’s show and then it’s semi-final next weekend. Saturday Night’s double eviction part one show ended with the five doing a Wizard Of Oz medley starting with Follow The Yellow Brick Road and including Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead, The Merry Old Land of Oz and If I Only Had A Brain.

The weekend of the 8th/9th May 2010 will mark a turning point for Over The Rainbow as two Dorothy contenders will be set to leave the show. One contestant will leave on Saturday and one on Sunday, leaving us with a final four. I think Sophie will have to go this time but I’m not sure whether Jenny or Steph will be the unfortunate companion on the flying moon. If there’s a sing off between three girls voted least popular by the public, Andrew LLoyd Webber will only be able to save one of them in the end, and if I believe he would have to save Danielle, Lauren or Jessica. What do you think?

Stephanie Davis not Dorothy Stephanie Davis became the fifth Dorothy contender to be discounted from Over The Rainbow last night, a shocking result really, caused by the public voting two of the strongest performers into the sing off, Steph and Stephanie. So Andrew Lloyd Webber had the difficult job of choosing one of those two to survive, and he chose Steph from London, leaving Stephanie Davis to hand over the slippers and sit on the moon singing “Over the Rainbow”. Stephanie the Liverpudlian had put in some blinding performance in previous weeks, especially with up tempo dance numbers but was landed with the difficult job of interpreting “Mr Bojangles” this week, and failed to really get to grips with this awkward song which has been covered by many well known singers over the years.

Safe for another week are now Sophie Evans, 17, from Wales Sophie was in the bottom two last week and favourite to have been knocked out yesterday, but survived another week thanks to the public phone voting. I’m afraid her luck can’t last much longer though. Jessica Robinson Jessica Robinson, 18, from Middlesborough Jess doesn’t care anymore. She achieved a lifetime ambition by singing her favourite song “Cabaret” on prime time television last week so anything that happens from here on in is a bonus for her.

Steph Fearon Steph Fearon, 21, from London was in the sing-off this week, so maybe isn’t getting the support she deserves from the capital. Steph has an irrepressible little grin which would look just great on Dorothy. Here she is attempting the Moulin Rouge version of “Diamonds are a girls best friend“

Lauren Samuels Lauren Samuels, 22, from London Lauren is one of the top contenders who started at a very high standard and then continues to show improvement in her performances week by week. Jenny Douglas Jenny Douglas, 18, from Scotland Jenny has had to learn how to dance very quickly for this competition, and seemed to have been given a renewed confidence in herself from the visit to Mamma Mia, her first London musical. She’s still a bit clumsy though and bumped into the other girls twice I think during Saturday’s Over The Rainbow ! Danielle Hope Danielle Hope, 17, from Manchester Last in my list here, but after this week Danielle could well be first favourite to win the role of Dorothy. Just look at this video of Danielle really enjoying herself with “Mambo Italiano“

The search for Dorothy Over the Rainbow, the BBC’s search for a Dorothy for The Wizard of Oz, moves into a more serious phase now. We’ve said goodbye to Dani Rayner and Emilie Fleming. You can read more about them  and their departure on the Wizard of Oz London blog. Now we are on to the really hard stuff. There  7 girls left and every single one of them is a potential star. She could still be Dorothy These girls are tightrope walking without a net, the slightest falter and they are gone. The standard is so high in this competition I’m convinced we are now watching the start of at least 4 classic West End leading ladies careers and 2 possible pop divas! Here they all are performing this week’s mash-up: Click here to view the embedded video. So, in classic Over the Rainbow style, here  are the remaining contestants in no particular order: Danielle Hope, 17, from Manchester I  like Danielle. I thought she would do well but I was not sure  at first about her voice. Well, now I am sure! She could be Dorothy.  Her voice is much better than I’d realised and she has a great tone combined with real power and strength in ballads. She can act too and her dancing is pretty good. More than any of that she has star quality and I think she could be a long term West End hit. Jenny Douglas, 18, from Scotland Jenny is cute and attractive. She’s got a smashing voice and a great quirky quality. Her dancing is coming on and she is definitely still in the running. If it doesn’t work out for her I think she’d make a super pop singer. I disagreed with the panel and enjoyed her version of Warick Avenue! Lauren Samuels, 22, from London I love being proved wrong! I wasn’t that keen on Lauren but she’s really grown on me. Great voice, good dancer, nice acting skills. I think that even if she’s not Dorothy,(and she may well be!) she’ll still go far. I think she’ll be in the top 5 Sophie Evans, 17, from Wales Well, Andy said “She’s Welsh, of course she can sing”  but I’m afraid we’re just not hearing it at the moment. She’s got it all there, singing, dancing even acting  but she seems to be holding back. I think she’s a bit overwhelmed, poor kid. I fear she’s the weak link at the moment and was lucky that Andrew Lloyd Webber saved her. Personally, based on the sing-off, I would have saved Emilie! Stephanie Davis, 17, from Merseyside Stephanie has a great voice and good dancing skills. Full of life, warmth and energy. She’d make a charming Dorothy and I expect her to be in the top 5. If not she’s going to have a great career anyway either on stage or as a recording artist. Love that voice, as Charlotte Church said “I could listen to you sing the phone book!” I do wonder about her acting range but only because she’s not really had chance to show us. Jessica Robinson, 18, from Middlesborough Great face, something of the Liza Minnelli or maybe Lorna Luft there. Little bit gawky and awkward sometimes, and so were they at her age. She going to be a star. I’m not totally sure she’s Dorothy but watch this space. This girl will go far. I’d love to see her do musical comedy but there’s more depth to her than just that. Steph Fearon, 21, from London Good voice, good dancer, nice acting skills, great on stage presence. Steph can still be a little bit too R&B sometimes but she’s got to be a contender. She is becoming a real favourite and she’s got the maturity to handle a huge production resting on her shoulders. The Wizard of Oz and the Search for Dorothy Continues I’ve really been enjoying the programmes this time. As far as reality casting TV goes this show must be the best they’ve done. Andy’s been collecting all the videos over on The Wizard of Oz London blog so if you’ve missed anything, or you just want to see something again you can find them there. Who’s your favourite? a

The Seven Remaining Dorothy Contenders With Emilie, Dani, Bronte and Amy having been discounted from playing Dorothy in the new London production of Wizard of Oz, the seven remaining Dorothy contenders are Stephanie Davis, Lauren Samuels, Danielle Hope, Jessica Robinson, Steph Fearon, Jenny Douglas and Sophie Evans. Danielle Hope Danielle Hope, 17, from Manchester

Danielle performs Cry Me A River Cry Me A River  is truly one of the best songs you could hope for, but I wasn’t too keen on the orchestration of  this one, nevertheless Danielle’s fantastic voice really does do it justice. This Dorothy contender has genuine star quality, the real thing. Jenny Douglas Jenny Douglas, 18, from Scotland

Jenny performs Warwick Avenue Jenny has endeared herself to us with her quirky performances and cute personality. I can imagine her as Dorothy, in fact I can imagine getting some cheap seats at the back of the upper circle for Wizard of Oz in London and still getting a great performance from Jenny. Lauren Samuels Lauren Samuels, 22, from London

Lauren performs Nobody Knows Sophie Evans Sophie Evans, 17, from Wales

I’m afraid Sophie must be the favourite for being dropped next week, but such is the high standard in this show this is still great to listen to.
Sophie sings Love Song Stephanie Davis Stephanie Davis, 17, from Merseyside

Stephanie sings Nobody Does It Better. Stephanie has a brilliant voice and must be one of the top contenders Jessica Robinson Jessica Robinson, 18, from Middlesborough

Along with Jenny, Jessica has the kind of facial expressions that can project to the back of a large theatre and therefore can be envisioned playing Dorothy in Wizard of Oz, no problem. In this case, the singing and dancing is all there too. Jessica performs There Youll Be Steph Fearon Steph Fearon, 21, from London

Steph sings Use Somebody Steph stands out for being a little shorter, an experienced, natural performer and well supported from South London! Sh started out with a full on R & B singimg style but has shown she can take the training and direction required for the West End stage where I’m sure she’ll end up. Not necessarily as Dorothy though.

A fourth unfortunate Wizard of Oz casting show contestant has been evicted from the Over The Rainbow house, Emilie Fleming, the 19 year old from Boldon, South Tyneside Emilie was the “wild card” saved by the public once already, and faced Sophie in the sing off.

Emilie Fleming

I think Both Emilie and Sophie had already been identified by the panel as the weakest overall packages and the voting public agreed, but the decision to save Sophie came as a small surprise, with Emilie having shown good progress with her singing voice as pointed out by Charlotte Church yesterday. Emilie already has plenty of stage experience having made her West End debut at 14 – as part of the chorus for the 25th anniversary production of Les Miserables.

So last weekend’s Over The Rainbow saw one of our favourites for the role of Dorothy in Wizard of Oz facing the sing-off in front of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Dani is the youngest of the Dorothies to reach the finals but has a very strong voice with a unique tonal quality that enabled her to stand out from the crowd as a special talent. Dani was up against Danielle Hope in the sing-off “Maybe This Time”

Dani Rayner

Unfortunately I think it was apparent inexperience at dancing that let Dani down this week, and she became the third Dorothy to hand over the slippers and leave the sobbing sorority, following Amy Diamond and Bronte Barbe in previous weeks. On Saturday night’s Over The Rainbow Dani Rayner from Northwich, Cheshire, performed a sharp rendition of the Dreamgirls hit “One Night Only”. Not an easy song for a 16 year old to convey, but Dani’s voice has a maturity that well exceeds her years. Here’s Dani’s departure set piece:

The search for an ideal leading lady to play Dorothy in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new London production of the Wizard of Oz continued in the BBC’s Over the Rainbow reality TV casting show last weekend.

The latest Dorothy hopeful to hand back her shoes was unexpectedly Bronte Barbe. She was not really expected to go out so early, and Andrew Lloyd Webber had said that both contenders for eviction were in his top five to go all the way and get the part. The public vote disagreed. Linda from London Theatre Breaks blog put her in the top five too: About Bronte Barbe Bronte comes from Macclesfield, a quiet, sensible town at the edge of the Peak District. It’s not quite Kansas but I expect it sometimes feels like it to someone like Bronte! She lives there with her Mum, sister and dog. She’s only 18 and she’d been working as a volunteer teacher at her former dance school before the show. She does have some amateur musical theatre experience and she’s got her Grade 8. I think she’ll do well and she could have been Dorothy. Over the Rainbow Show 5 put an end to Bronte’s Dreams of the Emerald City One not quite brilliant performance of K.T. Tunstall’s Suddenly I See and Bronte was doomed to be in the bottom two. I thought quite a few of the Dorothies were on dodgy ground on Saturday night’s show. The producers had given them all songs that went against type. Some of the girls pulled it off but I agreed with the public vote that both Bronte and Lauren struggled. I though Sophie struggled even more than either of them though so I was surprised that she survived. Steph on the other hand was a revelation singing “It’s So Quiet” she seemed to finally get her R&B warbling under control and give us a real musical theatre number. Very nice! Not sure she’s Dorothy but still, very nice. So why did ALW save Lauren? He said it was down to experience and Lauren is 22 against Bronte’s 18. However I also think Lauren has a stronger voice. She might even be Dorothy if she can just stop mugging to the camera! Goodbye Bronte My Favourites for Dorothy My favourites at the moment, in no particular order (where did I get that idea from?) are: Jenny Douglas – Good voice & full of life and devilment. Danielle Hope – Reasonable voice, good stage presence. A strong dancer she has that adolescent quality that Dorothy will need. Dani Rayner – Lovely voice, looks the part, just a bit worried about her acting skills and very young at only 16. And almost any of the others – it is as they say, all to play for, and the standard is so high that one slip can be fatal. I’d feel sorry for them but I know how well many previous losers have done! Talent won’t be ignored and for some of them not being Dorothy might be the best career move they’ll ever make! Bronte would make a smashing Glinda for Wicked

The search for the perfect Dorothy for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s forthcoming production of the Wizard of Oz continued in Over the Rainbow this weekend. The latest hopeful to hand back her silver shoes (don’t get me started on how weird that is!) was Bronte Barbe. I felt really sorry for her as she’d obviously not expected to go out so early. I thought she was a good bet for the top 5 (so did ALW!) but the public vote disagreed. Bronte Barbe Bronte comes from Macclesfield, a quiet, sensible town at the edge of the Peak District. It’s not quite Kansas but I expect it sometimes feels like it to someone like Bronte! She lives there with her Mum, sister and dog.  She’s only 18 and she’d been working as a volunteer teacher at her former dance school before the show.  She does have some amateur musical theatre experience and she’s got her Grade 8. I think she’ll do well and she could have been Dorothy. Over the Rainbow Show 5 put an end to Bronte’s Dreams of the Emerald City One not quite brilliant performance of K.T. Tunstall’s Suddenly I See and Bronte was doomed to be in the bottom two. I thought quite a few of the Dorothys were on dodgy ground on Saturday night’s show. The producers had given them all songs that went against type. Some of the girls pulled it off but I agreed with the public vote that both Bronte and Lauren struggled. I though Sophie struggled even more than either of them though so I was surprised that she survived. Steph on the other hand was a revelation singing “It’s So Quiet” she seemed to finally get her R&B warbling under control and give us a real musical theatre number. Very nice! Not sure she’s Dorothy but still, very nice. So why did ALW save Lauren? He said it was down to experience and Lauren is 22 against Bronte’s 18. However I also think Lauren has a stronger voice. She might even be Dorothy  if she can just stop mugging to the camera! Goodbye Bronte Click here to view the embedded video. My Favourites for Dorothy My favourites at the moment, in no particular order (where did I get that idea from?) are: Jenny Douglas – Good voice & full of life and devilment. Danielle Hope – Reasonable voice, good stage presence. A strong dancer she has that adolescent quality that Dorothy will need. Dani Rayner – Lovely voice, looks the part, just a bit worried about her acting skills and very young at only 16. And almost any of the others – it is as they say, all to play for, and the standard is so high that one slip can be fatal. I’d feel sorry for them but I know how well many previous losers have done! Talent won’t be ignored and for some of them not being Dorothy might be the best career move they’ll ever make! Bronte would make a smashing Glinda

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