Over The Rainbow (Reprise) Lyrics – Wizard Of Oz, The

Song Overview

The 2011 London Palladium production gives Dorothy a sharp, urgent reprise of the classic ballad at the Witch’s castle. It is brief - a flare of homesick clarity - and then the guards’ chant cuts in and the clock keeps ticking. On the album, the scene pairs spoken threats from the Witch with Dorothy’s burst of melody, landing the show’s thesis cleanly: home is the light she is running toward.

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Short scene-song in Act II inside the Witch’s castle - Dorothy’s moment of doubt resolving into resolve.
2. Music by Harold Arlen, lyric by E. Y. Harburg; arranged within the 2011 London Palladium staging.
3. On record, Danielle Hope leads the reprise; Hannah Waddingham voices the Witch’s countdown.
4. Commercially released as part of The Wizard of Oz (2011 London Palladium Recording) in spring 2011.
5. Runtime on streaming sits around two minutes and change, built as a tight dramatic pivot.

As constructed for this production, the reprise is a pressure valve. The Witch winds the clock. Dorothy rejects panic and reaches for the melody that first defined her longing. The orchestra supports with hushed strings and a luminous swell into “Birds fly over the rainbow,” then the castle guards’ chant slices across the line. It is theatre economy at work - one perfect fragment recontextualized by danger.

Creation History

The backbone comes straight from the 1939 film score. For the Palladium run, the team tightened the castle sequence so the reprise functions as an audible lifeline rather than a full ballad repeat. The album mix preserves the scene logic - speech, sung flare, percussive chant - so the listener feels the clock.

Song Meaning

Plot

Cornered by the Witch and given an hour to live, Dorothy thinks of home - the shabby little bedroom she once scorned. She sings a shard of her cornerstone song as if to steer herself through fear. The guards’ chant answers back, reminding her that time is moving whether she sings or not.

Song Meaning

Unlike the early statement, this reprise is not a dream of elsewhere. It is a compass. The same melody that once floated upward now narrows to a plea and a promise - I will get back. In story terms, it marks the pivot from fantasy yearning to concrete intention. The interruption by the guards underlines the cost of that choice.

Key Facts

• Artist: 2011 London cast - lead vocal by Danielle Hope (Dorothy); spoken lines by Hannah Waddingham (Witch)
• Featured: Ensemble guards (chant interjections)
• Composer: Harold Arlen
• Lyricist: E. Y. Harburg
• Producer (recording): Nigel Wright; Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Release Date: May 9, 2011
• Album: The Wizard of Oz (2011 London Palladium Recording) - track 19
• Label: The Really Useful Group under license to Polydor (UK) / Decca Broadway (U.S.)
• Genre: Musical theatre ballad - reprise
• Length: ~2:13
• Instruments: strings, woodwinds, light brass pads, low percussion for the guard motif
• Mood: urgent, homesick, resolute
• Track #: 19
• Language: English
• Music style: rubato ballad fragment leading into percussive chant
• Poetic meter: flexible iambic lines shaped for speech-song

Canonical Entities & Relations

Questions and Answers

Where does this reprise land in the running order?

Act II in the Witch’s castle, after the hourglass threat and before the rescue sequence kicks off.

Why keep this reprise short?

It works as a needle of focus. A small slice of melody against a hard deadline carries more voltage than a full repeat.

Who performs on the commercial recording?

Danielle Hope sings; Hannah Waddingham provides the Witch’s spoken countdown; the guard chorus jumps in on the chant.

Is the material new to 2011?

No - this is an arrangement of the 1939 song; what is new is the production’s scene architecture around it.

How fast is it?

The sung fragment stays rubato around a slow 70-76 feel; the guard chant lands in a strict, heavier pulse.

What purpose does it serve for Dorothy’s arc?

It transforms nostalgia into decision. She stops daydreaming and starts aiming home.

Does the chant undercut the melody?

Deliberately. It reminds us the clock wins unless someone acts - a neat dramatic wrench.

Awards and Chart Positions

Production milestone: The London Palladium revival was nominated for Best Musical Revival at the 2012 Olivier Awards.

How to Sing Over the Rainbow (Reprise)

Key & tempo: Often placed near Ab or adjacent keys for Dorothy; the reprise keeps a free, slow rubato (roughly mid-70s) before the guards’ strict chant drops in. Licensed materials may transpose.

Vocal range: Comfortable for a lyric soprano/mezzo-soprano top - the fragment typically sits around middle to upper-middle register with one lifted line on “bluebirds.”

Step-by-step

1. Tempo: Treat the sung line like speech shaped into melody. Take time on “bluebirds fly,” then release into the guard pulse.
2. Diction: Keep vowels tall on “rainbow” and “why then.” Avoid a sob on “home” - purity reads stronger.
3. Breath: One deep, low breath before the phrase; a quick sip before “Birds fly over the rainbow.”
4. Flow & rhythm: Let the line float over the bar; once the chant begins, lock into the ensemble’s grid.
5. Accents: Shape “why then… oh why…” with a gentle crescendo then pull back - a thought, not a wail.
6. Ensemble/doubles: Agree on the hand-off with the guard chorus so your final “Did I?” lands clean before their first syllable.
7. Mic craft: Close and warm for the solo line; step off slightly when the chant arrives to keep clarity.
8. Pitfalls: Over-sentimentalizing, losing pitch center in rubato, or letting the chant trample your cutoff.

Practice materials

Use a piano-vocal excerpt of the castle scene and a click set at 75 for shaping breaths. Then rehearse the transition with a strict click for the chant to drill the contrast.

Additional Info

The cast album rolled out digitally in May 2011, with a U.S. store release following that June. Catalog listings and streaming metadata credit Danielle Hope on this cut, with the track appearing late in the running order alongside other scene fragments. As stated in Playbill’s reporting at the time, the album packaged the original film songs and the 2011 additions into a single listen.

Sources: Playbill, Universal Music Group, Spotify, Apple Music, Discogs, Official London Theatre, Whatsonstage.