Bring Me The Broomstick Lyrics – Wizard Of Oz, The

Song Overview

“Bring Me the Broomstick” is the Wizard’s command number in the 2011 London Palladium staging - a brisk, quasi-patter decree that flips the quest on its head. It’s one of the new additions by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, delivered with iron-clad authority as our foursome finally reaches the Emerald City and learns the price of their wishes.

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Wizard-focused command song from the 2011 London Palladium production, placed late in Act I as the audience meets Oz face to face.
2. New material by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics) written specifically for this staging.
3. Cast-album cut on The Wizard of Oz (2011 London Palladium Recording); Michael Crawford voices the Wizard on the recording.
4. Arranged for swift scene traffic: stern brass, percussive stamps, and chorus interjections that feel like orders echoing round the throne room.
5. Sets up the central errand - the broomstick - and snaps the plot into a new gear.

The track comes on like a gavel strike. Short phrases, clipped rests, and a martial snap in the pit push the Wizard’s presence forward. You can almost see the green glare and rising smoke. Orchestrations favor brass in unison with bass drum thumps, while winds whirr underneath - a courtroom of sound where Oz is judge and bailiff. The ensemble reactions keep it comic, but the tempo says business. According to cast listings, this recording is intentionally tight - a quick hit that launches the second leg of the journey.

Creation History

When the 2011 team extended the film score with new numbers, they gave Oz two set pieces: this curt mission brief and a later farewell. The writing leans into command-mode patter with punchy hooks, built for a star Wizard to bark the plan while the orchestra reinforces every period and exclamation point. On stage, projections and throne-room acoustics amplified the decree; in audio, the mix spotlights the Wizard’s bark with crowd rustle tucked just behind the beat. Contemporary reviews of the production noted how these additions clarified character motivations - especially Oz’s transactional streak - while keeping the evening family-forward. According to NME magazine’s coverage of the revival season (and the trade press around it), the cast album crystallized those choices in a studio-polished frame.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Dorothy and company finally reach Oz. The great and powerful voice sizes them up, then names the toll: bring him the Witch of the West’s broomstick. Stage business keeps it funny - the Lion’s backpedal, the Wizard’s repeated refrain - but the message lands: their gifts are conditional on a near-impossible errand.

Song Meaning

This is authority as theatre. The number reframes Oz from benevolent fixer to bureaucrat of wonder - a gatekeeper who trades miracles for labor. It also recharges the quest. Just when the road could sag, the show sets a fresh, tangible objective, rooting the fantasy in a simple object with outsized power. The music’s clipped rhythm sells urgency; the vocal writing treats each line like a stamped order.

Production and instrumentation

Expect low brass in unison, side drum accents, and a choir-like wall of ensemble responses. The tonal color is imperial - greens and golds if you’re thinking in lighting cues - with brief silences that let Oz’s final words hang like smoke. As stated in the 2011 review circuit, the addition sharpened stakes without slowing the beat.

Key Facts

• Artist: The Wizard of Oz 2011 UK Cast (principal vocal on record: Michael Crawford as the Wizard)
• Featured: Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion - spoken and sung reactions in the scene
• Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Lyricist: Tim Rice
• Producer (recording): Nigel Wright; Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Release Date: May 9, 2011
• Album: The Wizard of Oz (2011 London Palladium Recording) - track 14
• Label: The Really Useful Group under exclusive license to Polydor (UK) / Decca Broadway (U.S.)
• Genre: Musicals - command-patter with orchestral drive
• Length: 2:23
• Instruments: orchestra with prominent brass, side drum, low strings, ensemble voices
• Mood: imperious, urgent, comic-adjacent
• Track #: 14
• Language: English
• Music style: declamatory patter fused with march-like accents
• Poetic meter: conversational iambs leaning into trochaic kicks on commands

Canonical Entities & Relations

Questions and Answers

Where does this piece sit in the running order?

Late in Act I inside the Emerald City throne room, right after the audience meets Oz properly and before the quest resets toward the Witch.

Why add this to the familiar film song stack?

To give the Wizard agency and a musical signature - he names the price of magic, and the audience hears his power rather than just seeing smoke.

How is it arranged on the album?

Tight, punchy, and under three minutes: a brass-first stomp with call-and-response ensemble hits. It plays like a scene change engine.

Does Dorothy sing much here?

Mostly interjections. The Wizard drives the vocal line; the others react in rhythm.

Is this from the original 1939 score?

No. It’s a 2011 addition by Lloyd Webber and Rice, written for the Palladium production.

What’s the lyrical function?

Set the quest - the broomstick - and clarify stakes. The rhyme and repetition make the order unforgettable.

Any strong live references?

Yes. Palladium-era performance clips capture the same rhythmic bark and throne-room staging choices heard on the album.

Awards and Chart Positions

Production milestone: The 2011 London production that spawned this recording was nominated for Best Musical Revival at the 2012 Olivier Awards. The track itself was not promoted as a chart single.

Additional Info

On streaming services, the album is credited to The Really Useful Group under exclusive license to Polydor in the UK, with the U.S. physical CD issued via Decca Broadway. MusicBrainz and retailer metadata place “Bring Me the Broomstick” as track 14, clocking a shade over two minutes. According to Playbill’s spring 2011 coverage, the cast album gathered the classic film cues alongside the new Lloyd Webber/Rice pieces. And - as stated in a Variety review from opening week - the number appears in the published running order as a new scene lever for Oz himself.

Sources: Universal Music Group, Apple Music, MusicBrainz, Official London Theatre, Whatsonstage, Variety, Playbill, CastAlbums.org.