No. of episodes 16 | Directed by Joan Tosoni No. of series 1 | |
Judges Andrew Lloyd WebberArlene PhillipsThom AllisonLouise Pitre | ||
Over the Rainbow is a Canadian reality talent competition, which premiered on CBC Television on September 16, 2012. Based on the 2010 series Over the Rainbow in the United Kingdom, the series auditioned aspiring musical theatre performers for the role of Dorothy for a Toronto production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. The series was hosted by Daryn Jones. Arlene Phillips, Thom Allison, and Louise Pitre served as judges alongside Webber.
Contents
The competition began with a Dorothy "boot camp" run by Lloyd Webber, which trained contestants and eliminated all but 10 finalists. Following a public telephone vote on 4 November 2012, 20-year-old Danielle Wade was chosen as Dorothy to perform the role for Mirvish Productions in Toronto, which started on 20 December 2012. Wade has played several leading roles in student and community theatre and is an acting major at the University of Windsor. The judges praised her as "a consistently solid performer with a big voice and girl-next-door likeability and charm".
The show also auditioned Canadian dogs for the part of Toto. CBC and Weber did not restrict the breed of Toto to Cairn Terrier (as used in the 1939 film), but instead searched for a dog that embodies the spirit of Toto: One that is a "bright fun loving companion full of energy and charisma". The winner was a small mixed breed dog named Linzy, that looks similar to the film's Toto, owned by Reta Thompson. However, Linzy did not appear in the stage production.
Finalists
Ten contestants made it through the audition rounds and performed during the live shows.
* at the start of the series
Performances
Danielle Wade
Stephanie La Rochelle
AJ Bridel
Colleen Furlan
Cassandra Hodgins
Jessie Munro
Jennifer Gillis
Julia Gartha
Michelle Bouey
Kelsey Verzotti
Opening Songs
Group Songs
Sing-offs The Bottom 2 voted by the public each week had to sing with one or two other Dorothys a contrasting song from a musical, then Andrew Lloyd Webber (week 1) and Arlene Phillips (weeks 2-7) would choose one of them to carry on in the competition. Danielle Wade was the only one not to have done a sing-off.