It was a loose adaptation of Baum's 1900 novel that had no Wicked Witch, Toto, magic slippers or yellow brick road, but had several new characters and subplots.

A teenage girl, Dorothy, lives on a farm in dreary Kansas with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em dreaming of faraway places ("Over The Rainbow").

The four friends travel down the yellow brick road, having been warned of the lions, tigers, bears and the fantastical jitterbugs who are controlled by the Wicked Witch.

The friends finally reach the Emerald City, where they meet Lord Growlie, his daughter Gloria and the Royal Army of Oz.

Dorothy and her new friends travel to the castle of the Wicked Witch, who sends various foes to hamper or attack them, but they manage to persevere.

However, the Wizard provides the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion with a diploma, a watch to show large heartedness, and a medal of "courage", respectively, and convinces them all that these items solve their problems.

[2][3] The original production featured Evelyn Wycoff as Dorothy, Helen Raymond as the Wicked Witch of the West, Patricia Bowman as the Sorceress of the North (i.e. Glinda), Donald Burr as the Tin Man, Edmund Dorsey as the Cowardly Lion, Lee Dixon as the Scarecrow and John Cherry as the Wizard of Oz.

[4] A new song was added for Dorothy to sing in the Emerald City, called "Evening Star", with lyrics by Mitchell Parish and music by Peter DeRose, and the music was newly orchestrated for a traditional pit orchestra instrumentation: woodwinds, brass, percussion, piano and strings, with a minimum of 22 musicians.

[2] Additional dance music is included, and the Wizard takes Dorothy home in a rocket ship instead of a hot air balloon.

Other new characters include Joe, Banana Man, Queen of the Butterflies, Old Lady, Lord Growlie, the Wizard's daughter Gloria, and numerous witches.