Today's Oz music video

Thanks to a book I just finished (I'll tell you more about that later today), I found out about two more Oz-themed music videos. I'll look for the other one later, but here's the first one: "Answering Bell" by Ryan Adams. (Look for a cameo by Elton John in an amusing role...)

Today's Oz comic

"Dorothy: The Later Years," in today's edition of Brevity. As usual, this should be up for thirty days.

A look back, a look ahead, and a challenge

Welcome to 2007, everybody! I just hope it ends up being a lot better than 2006, which was a real kick-in-the-teeth year for me — except for Oz, of course. Lots of good Oz stuff going on last year. The Oz Club and Hungry Tiger Press reprinted a number of very interesting books, some that haven't been readily available for at least eighty years. In comics, Adventures in Oz reprinted Eric Shanower's best Oz work, Oz: The Manga and Le Magicien d'Oz (now also available in an English version from Image) were both excellent adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Dorothy came out with more issues as well. Oh, yeah, and the very much not for children Lost Girls (I don't have a copy yet, but I should get one soon). In new non-comic books, we got Sherwood Smith's second Oz book, Trouble Under Oz, Jerry Maren's autobiography, and all kinds of self-published things, among others. On DVD, Journey Back to Oz and The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz finally came out. But the highlight for me was definitely, hands down, finally getting to see Wicked, It was a great show, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I plan to see it again next time it's in town. A close second was my brief encounter with Stephen Schwarz and getting his autograph in my copy of Wicked: The Grimmerie.

So what's ahead? Rumor has it that there may finally be a DVD release of The Dreamer of Oz, there may be some interesting Wicked news in a few months, and chapter VII of Dorothy should be out soon. Oh, and we still have the 2006 editions of Oziana and the Club calendar, and two 2006 editions of The Baum Bugle, to look forward to as well. Yes, you read that right, 2006 stuff, even though it's now 2007.

Which brings me to the third part of this note: The Challenge. Today is the fiftieth birthday of the International Wizard of Oz Club. It was started by a fourteen year old Brooklyn boy and had sixteen charter members. There wasn't much to it at first, but the enthusiasm and drive of those early members helped the Club to grow and thrive. Now, however, most of that first generation of Oz Club members are gone, and it's time for the next generation to step up and takes its place in running the Club. The Club relies on volunteers to get so much done, and many people are already helping. I myself write reviews for the Bugle, I'll probably lend a hand to production of Oziana, I'm a moderator on the Club's message board, and I'm currently serving on two committees. But those of us who are working now can't do it all. I hope that those of you who are reading this and are Club members will ask what needs to be done and can find a place to help out. Can you write? The Bugle and Oziana always need contributors, and right now the Bugle even needs assistant editors to help out with some sections. Can you draw? Oziana always needs illustrators, or you could contribute to the calendar. You could serve on a committee, help out at the conventions, help recruit new members at Oz events, host a local Oz party in your area, anything you can think of! The Club is only as strong as those who are working behind the scenes, so the more members can help out, the stronger the Club will be. And if you're not a member yet, I highly recommend it! Find out more about the Club at http://www.ozclub.org/.

The Wicked Witch's bottom

I finally got around to seeing the film version of Rent last night. Wow, what a trip! The music is terrific, and the characters were great, too. But I got an unexpected bonus. One big reason I wanted to see it is for Idina Menzel, who plays Maureen. After originating the role on Broadway, she went on to originate Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in Wicked. This movie was her first project after leaving that show. At one point, Maureen moons Benny, played by the always terrific Taye Diggs. No, she doesn't have a green bottom.

Fun behind-the-scenes tidbit: Maureen and Benny may be antagonists in Rent, but in real life, Idina and Taye are married. In fact, I believe they first met and became a couple during the original Broadway run of Rent. (I've been corrected! Thanks, Tiff.)

Oogaboo Rendezvous

Today was the New Y'Oz Oogaboo Rendezvous. As the party happened, I recorded the events of the day for the brand, spankin' new Oogaboo Review Website.

The Oogaboos hope that the website will be a source for inspiration for other groups who want to hold Oz Events, as well as a way to remember all the good times the Oogs have had together. Please feel free to share the link and check out how we run our parties.

Today's Oz comics

It's been a while since I've been able to direct you to some Oz comics — but today, there are two! First up, Luann's dog Puddles has to get home from his Christmas adventure with Santa in Luann. And today's Brevity is pretty self explanatory. As usual, these should be available for thirty days, so if you're reading this in June, sorry, you missed out.

"It's a twister. It's a twister!"

Okay, no, it wasn't that bad, but if you've been following the news (and I gather our local weather did at least make the national news), we had one of the worst windstorms ever to hit the Northwest sweep through the other day. We're still out of power (thank goodness my parents' place still has power, heat, and an internet connection — guess where I'm posting from, and will be staying for another night or two?), but the worst damage we have is a tree that fell and hit our car (you can see the damage here on my wife's blog), and maybe some ice cream that we'll have to throw out. We're in pretty good shape, and the insurance will take care of the damage to the car.

Today did give me a chance to look at an Oz-related book I've had sitting around for a while: The 2003 edition of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, illustrated by Michael Hague. I didn't actually read it, as I've read the story a few times already, I was just interested in the pictures. And Hague does a terrific job. I especially like his take on Claus as a young man. I'm not sure about the wings on Ak, however. Still, it's a terrific edition, well made and put together, with nice illustrations. I think a lot of people would enjoy it, and I don't just mean Oz people.

Wicked in Justice Society

The set-up: DC's new Justice Society of America has just launched with issue #1 out this week. As is usual with the first issue of a team book, the group is forming, and older members of the team are out gathering recruits, who we get to see in their daily lives before they are approached. One of the new characters in this book is Maxine Hunkel, granddaughter of the great Ma Hunkel (the original Red Tornado). Why on earth is this of interest to Oz fans? Because of Maxine's interests:

This is one of several scenes that establish Maxine as an opinionated motor-mouth who is having trouble being accepted by her classmates at Harvard. She's smart, but talky. A few panels later we see her on the top of a building, and she utters a familiar line:

"It's time to try... Defying Gravity." Yup, she steps off the building. And while the book fools us for a moment into thinking she's going to fall... well, hey, that would be telling now, wouldn't it? Perhaps you ought to go buy the issue if you want to know what happens next.

I present to you, Maxine Hunkel, Wicked fan.

Holiday Heads-up!

It's been a while since I put up a video here, so I thought I'd start getting in the spirit of the Christmas season by putting up this clip from the 1985 Rankin-Bass special, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. So, here it is:

What makes it Ozzy? L. Frank Baum wrote the original book this is based on. And you have not one, not two, but three chances to watch it this month, if you have cable. It's on the ABC Family Channel, as part of their annual "25 Days of Christmas" marathon of holiday programming. Out here on the West Coast, it's on December 9 at 11:00 a.m., December 12 at 7:00 p.m., and December 24 at 3:00 p.m., check local listings for times and channel in your area, yadda yadda yadda and ho ho ho!

Special Guest Blog: Oz on Stage in Israel

(Eric here. I got word recently from Gili in Israel about two new stage productions there, and I asked if she could write something up on them for my events page. What she sent, however, is more appropriate for a blog than the events page, so I thought, why not? So here she is, Gili Bar Hillel, with her summary of Oz on stage in Israel.)

Over the past decade or so it has become a tradition in Israel to stage musicals based on children’s classics during the weeklong Hannuka holiday (sorta like Christmas pantos in the UK). The past years have seen adaptations of Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, Tom Sawyer, Anna and the King, Around the World in 80 Days, and more. The forerunner of these all is generally considered to be an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz entitled Hakosem (The Wizard), starring kiddie-TV idol Michal Yannai as Dorothy. The adaptation by Uri Paster featured a smart-Alecky talking Toto, a romantic subplot between Dorothy and the Tinman, multiple Scarecrows and Lions, and three Wicked Witches... The 1994 production was a huge financial success, if for no other reason than that the cast was putting on several shows a day: in fact, this production was eventually listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for most shows of a major production in a given timeframe. In the year 2000 the play was rewritten as a futuristic science-fiction story, The Wizard 2000, with a child actress in the lead role; however, the restage was a flop. Rumors circulated that the parents of the actress playing Dorothy had charged the producers with working their daughter to the point of exhaustion and illness.

This winter, not one but two productions based on The Wizard of Oz will be competing for child audiences in Israel: The Wizard 2006 is yet another restaging of Uri Paster’s adaptation, this time featuring teen pop-star Ronny “Superstar” Duani as a blonde Dorothy; the second production is a new adaptation by Azriel Asherov, starring pop-star Michal Amdurski, known for her husky voice and sultry manner. Both productions’ designs look to be closer to the 1939 MGM movie than previous productions. Zachi Noy, who played the Lion in the 1994 production, will be Wizard to Amdurski’s Dorothy for several performances, alternating with well-known comedian Meir Suissa; Duani’s Dorothy will be veteran stage and film actor Mosko Alkalay.

I have yet to see either production, nor am I particularly looking forward to doing so. The 1994 production I found to be poorly conceived, crass and unbearably loud, the 2000 production I didn’t even know about before it was pulled. But images of the sets and costumes that I’ve seen so far look attractive enough. The production starring Ronny Duani will be staged only in Tel-Aviv, in hangar #11 of the Tel-Aviv docks; the production starring Michal Amdurski will be touring all over the country during December and January, from Karmiel in the north to Eilat in the south.

The Wizard of Oz (take a look at the poster here)
Based on the book by L. Frank Baum
Written and directed by: Azriel Asherov
Original music: Misha Blochorowitz
Orchestration: Dror Margalit
Choreography: Ilan Maman
Sets: Dudi Beit Melacha
Costumes: Yoav Rish, Svetlana Vitliok
Dorothy: Michal Amdurski
Wizard: Zachi Noy / Meir Suissa
Tinwoodman: Nir “Niro” Levi
Additional cast members: Dudi Ben Aderet, Zohar Katz

The Wizard 2006 (take a look at the image gallery here)
Hangar 11 in Tel-Aviv, no Saturday perfomances
Book: Uri Paster
Director: Idan Amit
Music: Yaron Kafkafi
Choreography: Claude Didier
Dorothy: Ronny “Superstar” Duani
Scarecrow: Shalom Assayeg
Tinwoodman: Guy Ariely
Toto: Avi Yaffe
Wizard: Mosko Alkalay
Lion: Lior Shemesh
Witchy-whatsit sisters: Michal Gavrielov, Sari Alfi, Liat Akta

Oz on the Literacy Site

The Literacy Site, a page where you can go once a day and click to get the page's sponsors to donate books. Well, they have a rotating set of front page images, and today's image is an Oz-themed one:

Go, click and enjoy helping people. There are a number of other sponsor supported click sites linked to The Literacy Site, so you ought to click on those, too.

Cheshire Crossing

The online comic Cheshire Crossing has been updated with the second issue. I don't think I can quite describe it, but there are definitely Oz elements. You can get the first issue as well as the second at that address.

My latest Oz readings

A three-fer this time around, and two of them are vintage:

• With Powder on my Nose by Billie Burke. Yes, that Billie Burke. It's a somewhat autobiographical advice book, with essays about food, exercise, relationships, keeping house, that sort of thing. It came out in 1959, so she was in her '70s by then, but it sounds like she still had an active, fulfilling life going then. It's an interesting snapshot of society at the time, and a more mature woman's place in it, but a lot of it also still rings true. At any rate, this was a quick, entertaining read, if nothing else.
  
• A copy of the script L. Frank Baum submitted to the Library of Congress for the 1902 stage version of The Wizard of Oz. Wow! For all that I've ever read about or heard about this show, this was the first time I've ever had the chance to read it. I know a lot of changes were made during the run of the show, but this at least gives something of an idea. To all of those who complain about how MGM ruined The Wizard of Oz with all of the changes they made to the story to make the famous film version, all I can say is, you ain't seen nothing! And these changes were all made by L. Frank Baum himself!
  
• Predicting the Future with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a fascinating little book meant to be used by classroom teachers. This curriculum breaks The Wonderful Wizard of Oz down into chapters, and uses each as a launching point for discussions or assignments about how the book predicted things that would happen in the next one hundred years (this book came out in 2000), and invites students to look ahead and predict their own futures. As a teacher, all I can say that it's a lot of fun and would give some language arts or social studies teachers a lot of good ideas for using the book in their classes.
  

And one very cool item came in the mail today: the 2007 Dorothy calendar, based on the comic book. It looks good! Laura and I each won a copy thanks to the October contest (for which you all had to put up with lots of plugs for the book, thanks for your patience). I'm keeping one up in my Oz room, and the other is going to the winner of the quiz at the last Oogaboo Rendezvous.

Sci Fi Channel to do Oz show

Sci Fi Wire reports:

SCI FI Channel has given a green light to Tin Man, a wild SF reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, as its next six-hour original miniseries.

...

The miniseries is a sometimes psychedelic, often twisted and always bizarre take on The Wizard of Oz. It centers on DG, a young woman plucked from her humdrum life and thrust into The Outer Zone (the O.Z.), a fantastical realm filled with wonder, but oppressed by dark magic. DG discovers her true identity, battles evil winged monkey-bats and attempts to fulfill her destiny. Her perilous journey begins on the fabled Old Road that leads to a wizard known as the Mystic Man. Along the way, she is joined by "Glitch," an odd man missing half his brain; "Raw," a quietly powerful wolverine-like creature longing for inner courage; and "Cain," a heroic former policeman (known in the O.Z. as a "Tin Man"), who is seeking vengeance for his scarred heart. Ultimately, DG's destiny leads her to a showdown with the wicked sorceress Azkadellia, whose ties to DG are closer than anyone could have imagined.

Wicked in Israel!

Oz's best friend in Israel, Gili Bar-Hillel, sent me the address for a blog about Wicked, including video clips of rehearsals of a local amateur production. Yeah, it's in Hebrew, but the pictures speak for themselves. So go take a look, already. (I especially liked the "Absolut Wicked" ad.)

Today's Oz comic

Hilary Price's Rhymes with Orange is usually good for a laugh, as happens when you combine a classic movie character with today's diet concerns, as she does right here.

Oh, all right one more, although this one is subtle. Unshelved is the funniest comic strip set in a library I've ever read (and yes, that actually means it's funny). This week they've had to deal with a particularly annoying accountant, so check out Dewey's first two words in yesterday's strip.

Strange questions people have about the movie

I can always tell when the famous MGM movie version of The Wizard of Oz — you know, the one with Judy Garland &mdash' is on television, because my e-mail inbox loads up with questions about it. And wouldn't you know, TBS is showing The Wizard of Oz this weekend. So, here's what I've gotten so far:

• When was it first shown on television in color? (According to the ad from that 1956 showing that I have reproduced in a copy of The Baum Bugle, it's been shown in color from the very beginning. But I very much doubt that most of the people watching in 1956 saw the color.)
  
• Did Margaret Hamilton get skin cancer from her green make-up? (Not that I've ever heard, but she did have a slight greenish hue for a few weeks after shooting ended.)
  
• What is it that the Wicked Witch's guards are chanting? (Hey, that one's in my website's FAQ, go look for it there!)
  

The latest Oz readings

Yes, I finally finished River of Blue Fire. Yes, it was long. By a wild coincidence, the author, Tad Williams, is now going to be writing my wife's favorite comic book, Aquaman. Let's hope his comic scripts aren't as long as that book, or she's going to have no time for anything else.

After that, however, I read another, much shorter and much Ozzier book, Bill and the Purple Cow in Oz by Chris J. Wright. This was a book that the author sent to me out of the goodness of his heart last year, just for all of the Ozzy things that I've done. This is a nice little Oz book with a more traditional structure, as a kid from the outside world comes to Oz, has adventures, and goes home again. Surprisingly, you don't see that as often any more. One of the nice little twists is that the purple cow is also from the Great Outside World — from Texas, no less, and he speaks with a drawl. Lots of Ozzy fun all around. Joe Bob says check it out.

One final note: This blog has finally been mentioned in The Baum Bugle the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club. Woo-hoo! It was in a short little piece on various Oz blogs, but The Wonderful Blog of Oz was the first one listed, and it's implied that this was the first Oz blog. Keen beans!

Wicked in Japan!

No, it hasn't actually opened in Japan yet. That's scheduled for next year some time. But here's a sneak peek:

This is part of the new Wizard of Oz attraction at Universal Studios Japan. Pretty cool!

You'll believe a monkey can fly!

Chris Dulabone, the Head Poobah over at Tails of the Cowardly Lion and Friends (go buy lots of his books, I particularly recommend the Seven Blue Mountains of Oz trilogy), has alerted me to a fun toy called a Super Fly Monkey. Go ahead, take a look, the video is a lot of fun (if you can get it to play on your browser somehow). So am I the only one who thinks they need to make a version that actually has wings?