There’s no place like home … but the Miller High Life Theatre will come in a solid second place this weekend, as the classic story of Dorothy, Toto and some killer footwear moves from the big screen to the stage with a new rendition of "The Wizard of Oz."

Opening Friday night at 7:30 p.m., the national tour – brought to life from the Royal Shakespeare stage play version – recreates the beloved, bright 1939 cinematic masterpiece, telling the timeless tale of a young girl teleported via twister out of her humdrum life and into a world of cowardly lions, flying monkeys, talking tin men, stumbling strawmen and witches good, evil and very, very smooshed. Coming along for the ride with those iconic characters are the equally quintessential Harold Arlen-penned songs from the original movie, from "If I Only Had a Brain" to "Over the Rainbow" and more.

"We tried to be very close to what everybody is expecting; it’d be like doing ‘The Sound of Music’ and changing things," said Denise Trupe, national marketing director for Prather Touring, the company behind the production. "Everything is very true to the movie – from the costuming to the interpretation of the characters. We’re certainly not there to mimic exactly the people who did it in the movie, but there are expectations of it being what they’re familiar with – that is what makes people also enjoy a show."

There is one large difference from the movie with the upcoming musical production: a big song-and-dance sequence of The Jitterbug as the characters journey into the magical forest and are put under the wicked witch’s spell. Otherwise, the show follows the same yellow brick road as the enchanting original, tickling and sometimes even terrifying viewers young and old (raise your hand if some of your earliest nightmares were of the witch’s flying minions).

"You can say, ‘This is what I remember seeing on television growing up’ – or, if it’s grandparents, it might have even been in the moviehouse," Trupe said.

The production even follows in the same technological footsteps as its predecessor. Much like the film put the latest filmmaking techniques of the time to the test in creating its magical worlds and effects, "The Wizard of Oz" uses some of the newest tools of the trade in bringing a part of that movie magic to the stage, from using CGI video to create the tornado effects to projections throughout the show – all working to bring the film fantasy from our childhoods to live reality.

In addition to the magic on the stage, "The Wizard of Oz" will also feature a collection of events to bring its characters and fun to life before the show. Before the 2 p.m. matinee show on Saturday, Dec. 30, for $10, the Miller High Life Theatre will serve "Tea with Glinda" from noon until 1:30 p.m. Meanwhile, before the production’s final show on Sunday afternoon, "The Wizard of Oz" will ring in the new year early with a Noon Year’s Eve celebration free for the day’s ticket holders from 11:30 p.m until 12:30 p.m., featuring a kid-friendly DJ and a milk-and-cookie toast at noon, dropping the ball before raising the curtain.

But at the core of the production is the characters, the worlds, the images and the story that have remained essential and enchanting, a comforting home that generations young and old have returned to for most of a century.

"It’s just a timeless story that there is no place like home – and everybody, especially during the holidays, feels that way," Trupe said. "Everybody, no matter where you are, would like to be home with their parents, in the bed that they grew up in as a child. And as we all roam in this day and age, spreading across the country and even across continents, when we are away, there is a longing for that familiar. That’s obviously the theme of the story: It doesn’t matter how far away you roam, you always will come back to the place that you hold near and dear to your heart."

For more information on showtimes and tickets, visit the Miller High Life Theatre's website.