The Wizard Of Oz: 1998 Cast Recording (Madison Square Garden Cast)

How do you fill the ruby slippers of Judy Garland? That's a question, thankfully, only Jessica Grove needs to answer. It's difficult not to hear indelible tunes like "Over the Rainbow" and "We're Off to See the Wizard" without thinking way back to the MGM movie version of 1939, but this touring-cast production uses unique enough music arrangements to stand on its own. Though two stars grace the album's cover--Mickey Rooney as the Wizard and Eartha Kitt as the Wicked Witch of the West--the pair hardly overshadow the upstart cast. Dirk Lombard as the Tin Man, Judith McCauley as Glinda the Good Witch, and Grove herself all deliver inspired performances, and some of the tunes--especially the "Munchkinland" medley--sound superb and remarkably fresh. Judy Garland (for most of us) will always own the role of Dorothy, but this musical does its best to breathe new life into a classic story--60 years after the fact. --Jim Young