Oz in Jeopardy!

Well I haven't been able to do one of these for a while! But now that Jeopardy! has its own YouTube channel, when things like this guest giving video clues happens, I can easily post them.

Now how in the world did I know that last one was going to be in there?

A Gaggle of Elphabas

You know what? I've gotten into a rut with this blog. Lately it's just become comics, what I'm reading, and what I'm watching. It's time to mix things up again! So here's a supercut of a whole bunch of different actresses, over the last two decades, playing Elphaba and singing "Defying Gravity" in various productions of Wicked.

Oz in Jeopardy!

After a flurry of Oz clues in a small number of games in March, Jeopardy! was pretty quiet Oz-wise for a while, until the April 13, 2015 game, which featured two clues of interest, both in the Broadway Debuts category of the Double Jeopardy! round. The very first clue uncovered in the round, for $400:

Alex, the returning champion, rang in first and correctly responded, "Who is Jackman?" (Hugh Jackman, of curse). And while this clue is pretty Ozzy, since the Oz it refers to is Australia, I may not have blogged about it (although Judy Garland is a character in the play, since the titular Boy from Oz did marry Liza Minnelli) by itself. But a few clues later, for $1600, this clue was revealed:

Alex again rang in again, but got a rare wrong answer when he asked, "Who is Menzel?" It was Kathy, the challenger on the right, who then rang in next and correctly responded, "Who is Chenoweth?" Alex (Trebek, the nost, not the defending champion) then helpfully added her first name, Kristin, when confirming that she was correct. (Had I been there, I'm not sure I would have gotten it right if I'd rung in first, although if I'd had more time I probably would have remembered that Idina Menzel was probably in Rent in or before 1997.) Despite his misstep, Alex (the champion, not the host) was such a dominant player that he could not be caught in the end, and defended his championship.

Oz at the Tony Awards

There were a few Oz performers at the Tony Awards the other night. (In case you don't know, the Tonys honor the best of Broadway.) First up was Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba from Wicked, who was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for her new show, If/Then. She performed a song from the show:

Later on Alan Cumming, who played Glitch in Tin Man, was at the center of a number from the current revival of Cabaret. He was the MC, a role he was born to play, in my opinion. (Warning: Not for sensitive viewers!) And Zach Braff, who played Finley in Oz the Great and Powerful, introduced a scene from Bullets Over Broadway. But the Ozzy event of the evening had to be the celebration of ten years of Wicked, with the current Elphaba (Christine Dwyer) and Glinda (Jenni Barber) performing "For Good".

Poor Elphaba

Poor Idina Menzel. First, John Travolta flubs up her name during the Oscars, and now this happens!. (Thanks to my lovely wife, Luka Gadbrooks Laura Gjovaag, for finding this.)

(And for those of you who are wondering, my Travloltfied name is Edward Gadbrooks.)

I think I have to start watching "Glee"

I've become a fan of the "Legends Revealed" series online. Various incarnations have touched on Oz before, but here's one I was not familiar with. Today, Television Legends Revealed has one about a storyline in Glee involving a Wicked song (scroll down to the third one) — and reveals that Idina Menzel will be appearing later this season!

Happy birthday, Idina

I just saw in the paper today that Idina Menzel, who originated the role of Elphaba in Wicked, is having a birthday today. So, happy birthday! In tribute, here's a video of Idina and Kristen Chenoweth rehearsing "For Good," from the PBS minseries Broadway, with lots of other behind-the-scenes goodness:

"One Short Day" in London

Here's the other clip we've found of a number from Wicked, as performed by the London cast on the Royal Variety Performance. The number is introduced by Adam Garcia, who plays Fiyero in the show. Very nicely done. Look for a cameo by some Denslow-inspired characters...

Wicked in Britain

Laura found this clip on YouTube, and I said, "I've got to put this on the blog!" It's Idina Menzel and Helen Dallimore in the London production of Wicked. I'm not exactly sure what it's from, but I gather it's some sort of royal command performance, so it was on television or something, and it looks really good. Idina's not quite up to where she was during the original New York run, or how she performed this song on the Tony Awards, but it's all still good, and one of the best ways to see this number without going to the theater. So without further ado...

There are a few more clips up, so maybe there will be more...