I first saw this concert version of the Wizard of Oz when it first was airing and was positively thrilled. Every performance was spot on - Joel Grey did the part of the Wizard proud; Roger Daltrey gave the Tin Man a Who-like showing on "If I Only Had a Heart"; Jewel's rendition of "The Jitterbug" was fantastic!; Natalie Cole's Gospel-style singing of "You're Out of the Woods" shows off the pipes of this talented singer; Nathan Lane's Cowardly Lion positively channeled Bert Lahr; Debra Winger as the Wicked Witch was a hoot with her standard above-standard performance; Jackson Browne's Scarecrow singing "If I Only Had a Brain" was marvelous; The Harlem Boys Choir made a wonderful set of munchkins; And the guest artists all made the concert a special event.
Darrell Larson did an extremely creditable job of direction on the entire production and is to be commended. I've owned a copy of this for several years now and watch it regularly. The only thing that would top having this on tape and CD would be if they released it on DVD as well.
