Andrew Lloyd Webber Pulls Out of Wizard of Oz

Courtesy of SplashNews.com

Andrew Lloyd Webber has pulled out of a new talent show to find the new Dorothy for a stage show of The Wizard Of Oz. The 61-year-old composer has decided he will not participate in another of the BBC talent shows before 2011 as his show Love Never Dies launches in March next year.

Love Never Dies is a sequel to his famed show Phantom of the Opera and he is reportedly worried that people will think he is generating publicity for the musical by doing a talent show. Webber has already found a Maria for his musical The Sound Of Music, a Joseph for Any Dream Will Do, and a Nancy for the revival of Oliver! But Webber's business partner, Andre Ptaszynski, said they don't want to create a scandal by doing the show just before the launch of the new musical. He said: "We will not be finding Dorothy through a BBC reality show - we've pulled it. It's just too risky. It's only been in the last two or three weeks that we've realised how much of a field day people would have with it. "Andrew would be accused of doing the BBC show just to get publicity for Love Never Dies. The BBC would then be made to look like it was giving him undue prominence. "We spoke with BBC director general Mark Thompson and we agreed to pull it. It is no reflection on our relationship with the BBC - Andrew loves making shows with producers there."

Provided by: Sophie Eager / Splash News

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