The person who will be cast as Dorothy in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Canadian production of The Wizard of Oz must have "attitude" as well as the ability to sing, dance and act, the British composer says.

That’s just some of the criteria Lloyd Webber has set as he prepares to sit as a judge on CBC-TV’s Over the Rainbow, which will call on Canadian viewers to help choose a Dorothy.

'We’ve got to have a girl who we think, 'I see why she wants to get out. She’s bored of this town, she wants to get away!'—Andrew Lloyd Webber

Over the Rainbow debuts Sunday, with the top 10 young women, chosen from auditions across the country ready to perform live in front of the British musical theatre wizard.

“We’ve got to find a wonderful Dorothy haven’t we? And we’ve got to find a Dorothy who’s a little bit feisty,” Lloyd Webber said in an interview with CBC News.

“I don’t want her to be a sweet little girl, but we’ve got to have a girl who we think, ‘I see why she wants to get out. She’s bored of this town, she wants to get away!’” he said in an interview taped in his U.K. home.

So while Dorothy will eventually conclude during her visit to Oz that “there’s no place like home,” she must have enough attitude that we believe she wants to leave Kansas, Lloyd Webber said.

Christie Stewart and Maria Ayienga display their skills at the Dorothy boot camp this summer. (CBC)

The first two-hour episode of Over the Rainbow will feature excerpts of the audition process and the Dorothy boot camp where 20 young women trained for the role.

The top 10 Dorothys will then perform live for Lloyd Webber and fellow judges — Arlene Phillips, Thom Allison and Louise Pitre.

The finalists are:

• Michelle Bouey, Charlottetown, P.E.I.
• AJ Bridel, Kitchener, Ont.
• Colleen Furlan, Winnipeg
• Julia Gartha, Unionville, Ont.
• Jennifer Gillis, Coquitlam, B.C.
• Cassandra Hodgins, London, Ont.
• Stephanie La Rochelle, Ottawa
• Jessie Munro, Toronto
• Kelsey Verzotti, Calgary
• Danielle Wade, La Salle, Ont.

Each Sunday, the Dorothys will perform a variety of Broadway songs, standards and pop numbers in front of a live studio audience attempting to win the hearts of Canadian viewers who can vote for them online. On Mondays, the bottom two Dorothys will compete for a place in the following week’s show.

Canadians will choose a Dorothy over a period of eight weeks, just as they chose a Maria in the 2008 reality series How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?

Lloyd Webber’s stage adaptation of The Wizard of Oz opens this December at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto.

“This is a real prize,” Lloyd Webber says of the competition. “It’s got to be somebody who can go on stage eight times a week and deliver that part.”

Hosted by Daryn Jones, Over the Rainbow debuts Sunday at 8 p.m. across much of the country (8:30 p.m. NT).