Reviewed by David Baker – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Website.

The Wonderful World of Oz Audio Theatre Production by Colonial Radio Theatre is a marvelous collection … featuring the first five stories in the Oz series: The Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, and The Road to Oz.

The Colonial Radio Players do a good job in bringing to life the Oz characters. Amy Strack has a youthful, yet intelligent voice which is great for Dorothy. Leigh Ann Price does an equally fine job with Princess Ozma, with her regal and playful voice. With sound effects, characters come to life as they had never have before, most notably Tik-Tok and the Musicker. The sound effects of Nick Chopper walking is entirely convincing.

Listening to the stories reveals fresh insights into some of the characters. In Ozma of Oz, the Nome King is portrayed more as a trickster than an evil villain. In The Road to Oz, Button Bright is not an annoying little boy, but an inquisitive youth who asks about things by repeating the familiar phase, "Don't know."

It is fascinating to listen to "L. Frank Baum" as he reads the introduction to each of the stories. One can hear his frustration in not being able to write other stories, when his "loving tyrants" cry out, "Oz! Oz! More about Oz!" Baum can't even write an Oz story without Dorothy because, "It isn't a real Oz story without her."

The Wonderful World of Oz Audio Theatre Production will make a nice addition to any Oz collector's collection.

From The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Website, http://www.eskimo.com/~tiktok/index.html