Haunted Forest Lyrics – Wizard Of Oz, The

Song Overview

A brisk, shadowy interlude on the 2011 London Palladium cast album, “Haunted Forest” resets the stakes. Breaths shorten, drums murmur, and the Witch’s vow slices through the trees. What looks like connective tissue on the track list is actually a pressure valve for the act: a chorus of dread, a martial stomp from the palace guards, and a villain’s promise that the chase is on. On record, it plays like a storyboard - footsteps, whispers, then Hannah Waddingham’s steel.

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Atmospheric scene-setter from the 2011 London Palladium revival cast recording.
2. Built around ensemble chants, guard rhythms, and the Witch’s spoken threat.
3. Placed between “Bring Me the Broomstick” and “Red Shoes Blues,” tightening the plot coil.
4. Produced by Nigel Wright under the Andrew Lloyd Webber revival banner; issued by Polydor in the UK.
5. Duration ~2:33 on major services; functions as a miniature suspense cue.

Arrangement wise, it is lean and percussive: low drums and brass figures create a stalking feel, while choral “Oh-ee-ah, yo-ah” patterns mimic regimented breath. The texture is closer to underscoring than full song, which is the point - the track paints fear in broad, theatrical strokes so the following numbers can explode in color. According to Playbill’s 2011 notes on the release, the album presented the show’s narrative flow more or less in stage sequence, so this cue lands exactly where you’d expect - in the dark wood, before the villain makes her play.

Creation History

The 2011 production (directed by Jeremy Sams) threaded new Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice material into the 1939 score architecture. “Haunted Forest” reads like hybrid writing: Arlen-Harburg DNA in the traveling ensemble phrases meets fresh staging and sound design, with Waddingham’s Witch commanding the spoken centerpiece. The cast album’s clean mix - a Nigel Wright hallmark - keeps the guards’ ostinato crisp and the Witch’s lines razor-clear.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Dorothy and friends enter the forest under orders from the Wizard. Guards close in with ritual chant. The Witch of the West spies their approach and vows to seize Oz by taking the shoes. It is a chase prologue in miniature - the corridor before the trap.

Song Meaning

Fear, formalized. The chanting reduces the heroes to intruders in hostile terrain; the Witch’s monologue reframes the quest as a power struggle over symbols - the shoes as legitimacy. The cue turns movement into menace, so when the story pivots to set pieces, the threat feels earned.

Annotations

“Oh-ee-ah! Yo-ah!”

Guard ritual as percussion. The syllables punch on off-beats, creating a trudging engine under the scene.

“Today all Oz will be ours!”

The Witch drops any pretense. It is dynastic talk - conquest, not mischief - and Waddingham’s clipped delivery makes it sound like policy, not cackle.

Style and instrumentation

March-tempo ostinato, low brass stabs, choral unison - closer to film underscore than standalone tune. The emotional arc is simple: anxious start, authoritarian middle, predatory finish.

Key Facts

• Artist: The Wizard of Oz 2011 UK Cast, Nigel Wright, Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Featured: Hannah Waddingham as the Witch; principal quartet as travelers
• Composer: Harold Arlen; additional material associated with Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Lyricist: E. Y. Harburg; scene text adapted for the 2011 staging
• Producer: Nigel Wright; executive production under Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Release Date: May 9, 2011
• Genre: Pop - Musicals
• Instruments: Orchestra, low brass, percussion, mixed chorus
• Label: Polydor in the UK; U.S. retail via Decca Broadway later in June
• Mood: Ominous, ritual, stalking
• Length: About 2:33
• Track #: 15 on the album
• Language: English
• Album: The Wizard of Oz (2011 London Palladium Recording)
• Music style: Processional chant into villain monologue
• Poetic meter: Mixed - chant syllables over marching pulse; prose monologue

Canonical Entities & Relations

• Hannah Waddingham - originated the Wicked Witch of the West in the 2011 West End run.
• Jeremy Sams - directed the 2011 production that shaped this scene.
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - producer of the revival and album; contributed additional material to the stage version.
• Nigel Wright - album producer and mixer.
• Polydor - UK label that issued the cast recording; Decca Broadway - U.S. physical release.
• London Palladium - venue where the production opened in March 2011.

Questions and Answers

Why place a chant-heavy cue here instead of a full song?

Pacing. The act needs a tension ramp before the next set pieces; chant builds pressure without stealing spotlight.

Is the guard chorus derived from the 1939 film textures?

Yes - it nods to the film’s patrol rhythms, then tightens them for stage timing and microphone clarity.

What makes the Witch’s speech land?

Short declaratives, clipped consonants, and rests that let the orchestra menace underneath.

How should an ensemble handle the “Oh-ee-ah” vowels?

Forward placement, matched cutoffs, and a light stomp on the second syllable to keep the march clean.

Does the track work out of context on streaming?

It does, as mood music. But it’s designed to click against the surrounding cues - a hinge, not a headline.

Any studio choices worth noting?

Plenty of space around the chorus so the unison reads as a single body; spotlit reverb on the Witch to feel like a close-up.

Where is it in the running order?

Track 15, between “Bring Me the Broomstick” and “Red Shoes Blues” on the London cast album.

Additional Info

According to Playbill, the cast album rolled out digitally first in spring 2011, with U.S. stores receiving the disc a few weeks later via Decca Broadway. Apple Music and Spotify listings peg “Haunted Forest” at roughly two and a half minutes, matching CastAlbums’ database timing. And yes, this is the production with Danielle Hope as Dorothy and Hannah Waddingham as the Witch - the latter’s presence explains why the monologue crackles so much on disc.

Sources: Playbill; CastAlbums.org; Apple Music; Spotify; Official Charts Company artist pages; Wikipedia.