Andrew Lloyd Webber is in talks with U.S. TV executives over plans to bring his "Wizard of Oz" talent search to America. The composer is hoping to launch a television casting show to find an unknown to play Dorothy in the musical - as he's done in the U.K.
His U.K. show will launch in February 2011 with newcomer Danielle Hope as his leading lady and Michael Crawford returning to the London stage.
He hopes his American TV talent search will prove to be healthy competition for Simon Cowell's new "The X Factor (US)" show. His U.K. show will launch in February 2011 with newcomer Danielle Hope as his leading lady and Michael Crawford returning to the London stage.
Lloyd Webber tells Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, "A couple of the networks in the U.S. have wanted to build something around what I do on TV, and I think with Oz something is definitely going to happen there."
"The X Factor juggernaut is going to be huge there next year but other networks are looking for something to go against it. Once we've found a Dorothy in the U.S., my instinct is to open the show in Kansas (where the story is set)."