The dreams that Danielle Wade of La Salle, Ont., dared to dream have come true.
The 20-year-old received the most viewer votes on the CBC-TV series Over the Rainbow Monday to land the role of Dorothy in an upcoming Toronto Mirvish stage production of The Wizard of Oz.
"This is incredible," a stunned and teary-eyed Wade said after her name was announced at the finale attended by theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber, who created the new stage adaptation.
"This is my first audition for anything. I really hope they all go like this," she added before stepping into Dorothy's ruby slippers and singing Over the Rainbow.
An acting student at the University of Windsor, Wade has more than 10 years of vocal training and recently played Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, The Musical.
Wade beat out two other finalists - A. J. Bridel of Kitchener, Ont., and Ottawa's Stephanie La Rochelle - to land a role on the yellow brick road.
Judges Arlene Phillips, Louise Pitre and Thom Allison praised her for being a consistently solid performer with a big voice and girl-next-door likeability and charm.
Lloyd Webber called her "a wonderful artist."
"I could listen to you all night," he told Wade when she was named the winner.
