From Broadway to Movies to Music, Oz Has Bewitched Audiences (And Billboard’s Back Pages) for 125 Years

Few American-made mythologies loom larger than L. Frank Baum’s Oz. His 1900 book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was an instant sensation that was made into theatrical productions and films, and later inspired songs by Elton John, America, ELO and even the Melvins.

Now, Jon M. Chu’s blockbuster Wicked is taking audiences beyond the yellow brick road, thanks to bewitching performances by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. So put on your emerald-colored glasses for a look back at Billboard’s coverage of a story that transported people over the rainbow to another world.

Not In Kansas Anymore

Just two years after Baum published his book, a musical adaptation, The Wizard of Oz, opened in a Chicago theater. Thanks to vaudeville veterans Fred Stone and David C. Montgomery playing the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, respectively, the Jan. 3, 1903, Billboard raved, “It is one continuous case of laughter throughout.” The reviewer noted, however, that “the music isn’t so very catchy.” If they only had a Rodgers & Hart!

If They Only Had a Brain

When the sixth silent film based on Oz opened in 1925, a Billboard critic wasn’t convinced it was King of the Forest. “No one ever expects logic in a film of this species and certainly no one finds any in The Wizard of Oz,” wrote a reviewer in the April 25 issue of director Larry Semon’s slapstick take. The good news: “You can safely invite the school committee and the clergy to view this film as it is wholesome and totally without objectionable features.”

‘What Happened Next Was Rich’

When MGM’s lush The Wizard of Oz premiered in New York, Billboard was there — as was star actress Judy Garland, who sang a few songs after the screening with frequent co-star Mickey Rooney. The “vaudefilmers” combo grossed $68,000 and broke “all house records,” according to the Sept. 2, 1939, issue. Two weeks later, Billboard forecast a bright future for “Over the Rainbow”: “You can count on its staying around for some time.” By Sept. 30, the song was a jukebox must: “No ifs and buts to it — it’s got to be in every machine.”

No Place Like Harlem

When The Wiz, a stage musical reimagining with an all-Black cast, opened on Broadway in 1975, a Jan. 18 Billboard review hailed its “sauce, moxy and innovation.” Sidney Lumet’s big-screen adaptation was “a wow” but “rather long,” according to the Oct. 14, 1978, issue. The same reviewer also said that Michael Jackson “excels as Scarecrow in several numbers,” including “a vibrant duet” with Diana Ross on “Ease on Down the Road” — which hit No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 the next week.

Age-‘Defying’ Appeal

A full century after Oz first hit the Gay White Way, Wicked debuted on Broadway. It was very “Popular”: When Billboard launched its Top Cast Albums chart in the Jan. 21, 2006, issue, the original cast recording was the first No. 1. Wicked’s broomstick flight to Hollywood was just as successful. “Ariana Grande is a revelation,” praised a Nov. 22, 2024, Billboard article, adding that Erivo’s Wicked Witch “feels real and relatable — even in a musical with talking goats.”