Inside the “Wizard of Oz” Prequel

Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire may feel close to his Boston roots, but his next script will be set steps from the Yellow Brick Road.

This week, the Pulitzer Prize-winner (Rabbit Hole) stopped by to talk with Kurt about Good People, opening on Broadway this week. It stars Frances McDormand as a woman struggling to survive in South Boston, the working-class neighborhood where Lindsay-Abaire grew up.

His next project, however, is set to bring audiences about as far from Southie as you can get: he’s writing the upcoming film Oz: The Great and Powerful. He joins director Sam Raimi (Spiderman,Drag Me to Hell) in the daunting task of imagining what came before the classic story we all know so well. Planned as a prequel to the 1939 film and the numerous books in L. Frank Baum’s series, the movie will focus on how the Wizard became the Wizard, from his humble con-artist beginnings in Kurt’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

Lindsay-Abaire had nothing but rave reviews for Raimi. He told Kurt: “He’s the best person to collaborate with. We have a similar sensibility and sort of share a brain in terms of our tone and storytelling.”

You can hear the rest of Kurt’s conversation with David Lindsay-Abaire this weekend on Studio 360.