By Mark Shenton
17 Nov 2009

The BBC has launched the star search that will be conducted via a new primetime reality TV series, "Over the Rainbow," as previously announced, for Andrew Lloyd Webber's new stage version of The Wizard of Oz, to be presented in the West End in 2010.

Nationwide auditions for participants for the TV series, to be hosted by Graham Norton, will begin in January 2010. All applicants must have been aged 16 or over by June 26, 2009. The winner of the talent search will, according to the competition's terms and conditions, be awarded a contract to perform in the West End production of The Wizard of Oz for a minimum of six performances per week over a minimum of six months.

According to publicity materials, auditions are open to everyone, no matter how much or how little experience they have. "What we're looking for is the potential to make the part of Dorothy your own," the BBC competition website states. However, participants need to be eligible to work in the U.K, and not currently be party to any exclusive performance contract.

The competition winner will follow in the footsteps of Connie Fisher, Lee Mead and Jodie Prenger, who respectively won previous BBC competitions to appear in The Sound of Music, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and the still-running Oliver!

To apply, prospective candidates need to fill in an application form at www.bbc.co.uk/dorothy.