Oz in the News 6.19.24

A Dress That Needs Its Own Car: Behind the Making of Glinda’s Dress in The Wiz

The revival of The Wiz launched a national tour before its historic return to Broadway. Davis found it important to bring this sense of wonder directly to Black audiences, which also meant there needed to be a plan on how to transport Glinda’s dress. 

Actress Deborah Cox admits there was some quirky complexities to make sure the dress was protected. “Every time we have to do something press wise, the costume gets a plane seat, the costume gets its own car, its own dressing room because it’s so delicate,” laughs Cox. “We try as a company to make sure that it’s always intact because it’s one of a kind.”

Costume Designer Sharon Davis jumps in to describe how the dress was stored as it was transported across the country: “Every night the skirt hangs upside down so that the ruffles don’t get too heavy. We had to wrap the jacket and give it a lot of space. It was like a science project.”

Davis also reminisced on the pride she felt touring with the production and sharing The Wiz to Black audiences across the nation. “There are people who can’t afford to come to New York in the Black culture. It was so great to see predominantly Black audiences in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles so people have the opportunity to see the show before it opens on Broadway,” says Davis. “We brought it to our own people first.”

Help Local Artist Recreate Burnsville NC’s Wizard Of Oz Mural

The original Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road mural was painted by local artist Rhea Ormond in 2008 on the building occupied by Something Special Gift Shop/Monkey Business Toy Store located at Academy Street and West Main Street in Burnsville, NC.

The original mural was peeling badly because it had been painted over decades of advertising signs. It was decided to have the brick sandblasted to create a new surface for Rhea to start the process of bringing the beloved mural of Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion back to life. While an exact reproduction of the original would be impossible there may be some surprises to look forward to in the new version!

Help with the costs by going here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-recreate-the-wizard-of-oz-mural

Oz in the News 6.15.24

Tatton Park Flower Show to host Wizard of Oz-inspired garden

There is just over a month to go until the return of RHS Tatton Park Flower Show. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the event and to celebrate an Emerald City Garden has been created, taking inspiration from L. Frank Baum’s ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’.

Simon Tetlow, head gardener, said: “It echoes the central theme in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which is the journey to reach a personal sanctuary, like home, while also exemplifying the mental health benefits of a green environment and how it is possible to incorporate this into an urban space however small using what you have available.

The display at the Flower Show, which runs from July 17 to 21, is just the first taste of Oz for visitors to Tatton. Come Christmas, the historic manor will be transformed into a festive journey. Staterooms will be decorated, unveiling new surprises at every turn from the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City. The Journey to Oz will open on select dates between November 23 and December 29.

Oz in the News Special Edition: Mysteries of Oz Mini Series Trailer

Oz in the News 6.13.24

The Wizard of Oz Museum relocating more than 2,000 items to Orlando

The Wizard of Oz story was told to museum founder Fred Trust in the former Soviet Union, and he was unaware at that time it was an American story. Since then, he has been collecting Oz memorabilia for over 35 years.

Fred opened the museum in February of 2022, displaying over 2000 items, including several original movie props from the 1939 movie, as well as two immersive experiences that have increased popularity. It took Fred and his team almost nine years to create their original immersive Oz experience and the immersive Van Gogh experience.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” said Fred Trust, owner of The Wizard of Oz Museum.

Fred recognizes the exterior of the building and parking lot could be more welcoming, but what is inside is what is essential. Although he likes the location, he is moving his museum to Orlando within approximately a year and a half. The land has been purchased, and plans are being drawn up.

“There is nothing wrong with Brevard County, but the building we currently lease in Cape Canaveral is being torn down to build condos. We pay to be closer to the beach, but we will pay more in Orlando to have more tourism. Now is the time locals can visit the museum without having to drive to Orlando,” said Trust.

The collection includes an original “Dorothy” dress by Judy Garland, an Emerald City Townsman jacket, and a spearhead carried by the Wicked Witch of the West’s evil henchmen.

Judy Garland Museum receives grant aimed at bringing ruby slippers back to Grand Rapids

There’s no place like home for the ruby slippers.

The Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids just received a $100,000 grant from the state of Minnesota to bring the slippers back to the museum.

They were stolen from the museum in 2005, recovered by the FBI in 2018, and then returned to the owner and collector Michael Shaw.

Shaw then turned the slippers over to the Heritage Auction House to be auctioned in December this year.

The slippers are currently valued at $3.5 million.

Janie Heitz, Executive Director at the Judy Garland Museum, believes that the shoes should be returned to the museum due to Garland’s history in Grand Rapids.

“We just feel that Judy Garland was born here in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She’s the one that made those slippers famous,” said Heitz.

The Judy Garland Museum will be hosting its Judy Garland Festival from June 20-23.

For more information click here.

Oz in the News 6.11.24

The Wizard of Oz shoes cling to Guinness World Record status

The iconic sequined shoes were pivotal to the plot of the 1939 musical film based on L. Frank Baum’s fantasy novel. But did you know they are also record holders? The slippers became the most expensive shoes from a film sold at auction in 1988 when a pair of them sold at Christie’s, New York, for $165,000 (then £90,000). The same pair went back under the hammer in 2000, when they were sold at the same auction house for $666,000 (£450,920), breaking their own record.

The record-breaking shoes aren’t the most expensive The Wizard of Oz memorabilia though – that title belongs to a cowardly lion costume that sold for $3,077,000 (£2,365,973), including buyer’s premium, at Bonhams in New York City, USA, in 2014. The suit, made from real lion fur, was one of only two made for the movie.

Oz in the News 6.9.24

Adria Arjona Recalls the “Big Rejection” When ‘Emerald City’ Was Cancelled

Before she landed roles in Good Omens and Andor, Adria Arjona was appearing in smaller capacities on shows like Person of Interest and Narcos. When she nabbed her recurring part in Season 2 of HBO’s hit series, True Detective, little did the actress know that her biggest breakthrough yet was right around the corner. In 2017, Arjona joined the cast of NBC’s drama, Emerald City, a TV adaptation of the classic tale by author L. Frank Baum, in the leading role of Dorothy Gale. The short-lived series would get Arjona’s foot in the door and allow her to work alongside Vincent D’Onofrio, who would take the up-and-coming actress under his wing. In an interview with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff during a recent edition of Ladies Night, Arjona shared the highest high of securing the Emerald City gig and the devastation she felt when the show was canned after only one season.

“The next job after [ True Detective ] was Emerald City , which was huge for me. I know it only had one season, but it was a big school for me. Vincent D’Onofrio taught at my school, at Lee Strasberg, and I became really good friends with his daughter, Leila George , who, by the way, is an incredible, incredible actress. I just got goosebumps talking about her. She’s phenomenal. I always wanted to be in his class, but I couldn’t because I was doing another job, and it was always something that wouldn’t let us work together , or for me to be in his class. You had to go through an audition process to be in his class and he chose me, and that was super exciting, and then I couldn’t do it. And that happened twice. So, my heart was shattered. And then to do Emerald City and for him to play The Wizard of Oz and to be acting alongside him like a mentor , really, I mean, I learned so much from him. He’s one of my favorite actors. I respect him so much.”

Admitting that leading a cast of superbly talented humans was something completely new and out of her comfort zone, Arjona continued,

“So, I think Emerald City , really, it was the best school I could have ever gotten . It was eight months in Budapest. I had never really been on a set for longer than a couple of days, so it was physically challenging, it was mentally challenging. I was so young. I was the lead of a huge show. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I surrounded myself with good people , and we ended up doing it. So, I think Emerald City holds a really special place in my heart.”

Oz in the News 6.8.24

Hollywood Heritage Museum Will Celebrate Pride With Judy Garland Event

Join in at the Hollywood Heritage Museum (2100 N Highland Ave) for “End of the Rainbow,” a special PRIDE celebration honoring Judy Garland‘s 102nd  birthday, 85 years of MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz,” and global launch of Vince Spinnato’s latest fragrance, “Judy in Oz.”

This exclusive event also serves as the closing party for the “Meet the Stars: 100 Years of MGM Studios and the Golden Age of Hollywood” exhibit. Attendees will have the rare opportunity to view “Wizard of Oz” artifacts from private collectors and a Joseff of Hollywood tiara worn by Judy for an “Annie Get Your Gun” costume test.

In celebration of Judy Garland and PRIDE, Vince Spinnato, the creator of the official “Judy” eau de parfum, will be hosting the global launch of his new “Judy in Oz” body mist. Guests will be the first to experience this new fragrance, available for purchase during the event in the Hollywood Heritage Museum Shop. 

Special guests Joey Luft and Vanessa O’Neill of the Garland family will join the celebration, along with Sid Krofft, appearing after his live Instagram session onsite. Sid toured with Judy for “Miss Show Business.”

Tickets start at $50 online at HollywoodHeritage.org and help the Museum with much needed funds to support restoration of the over 110 year old Museum structure, “The Barn,” which serves as a historical landmark destination to educate the public about the origins and namesakes of the industry that made Hollywood the “Entertainment Capital of the World.”

The event is within walking distance of the HOLLYWOOD PRIDE parade. Attendees are encouraged to dress in PRIDE, “Judy,” “Wizard of Oz,” 1920’s, or Hollywood-themed attire.

Listen to ‘Be a Lion’ and ‘Home’ From The Wiz‘s Upcoming Broadway Revival Album

Broadway’s revival of The Wiz, currently running at the Marquis Theatre, is welcoming us into the weekend with a surprise release of two tracks from its upcoming cast album, due to digitally release June 14 from Immersive/Interscope Records. Hear Nichelle Lewis, Kyle Ramar Freeman, Avery Wilson, and Phillip Johnson Richardson sing “Be a Lion” Also out for early listening: Lewis’ climactic “Home.” 

Oz in the News 6.6.24

Top Secret Sphere Film Project in the Works: “Wizard of Oz”

We trust there will be a twist, and the original film will serve as a springboard for the wizards at the Sphere to do what they do. Blow minds. That’s in the job description. The way we’ve heard it described is a “new” take on the original film, but is not intended to “compete” with it. As if anything could, really. That’s some big red shoes to fill.

While “The Wizard of Oz” was released nearly a century ago (no really, it was 1939), there are legions of fans of this film, and it would be awesome if Sphere figured out a way to make the movie relevant to new generations of fans.

The Sphere is perhaps the only venue on Earth that could create that sense of wonder again. Dorothy’s first step into Oz was an epic collision of technology and creativity. Let’s have some of that, shan’t we? 

Oz in the News 6.2.24

Destination Illinois: Origins of Oz

Our Quad Cities News takes you on a journey across the Land of Lincoln for some unique places to visit in Illinois. In this installment, we head to the origins of a timeless classic, ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ Our Quad Cities News reporter Tom McIntyre uncovers the heartwarming tribute where history and magic collide, the point where the trek to the yellow brick road began. It’s Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Bloomington for Destination Illinois.

Oz in the News 6.1.24

Kelly O’Connor’s Pop Culture Hallucinations

Like a spell cast by the Wicked Witch of the West, or the wave of good witch Glinda’s magic wand, Kelly O’Connor’s sparkles, starbursts, and tessellations embellish the Technicolor dream worlds of The Wizard of Oz and Disneyland in Deepfake, O’Connor’s seventh solo exhibition at the David Shelton Gallery in Houston. O’Connor continues her long engagement with how these fantastical tales and characters merge into real life magic in a continued returning, throughout the decades, of the shared delusions manufactured by pop culture. 

To reimagine The Wizard of Oz, the artist takes pictures of the movie with her phone and digitally manipulates them, presenting tableaus of doubled Glindas and tremulous Dorothies, with Munchkins blurred and mirrored into kaleidoscopic abstractions. She sources her Disney images from memorabilia, vacation guides, and postcards; she also scans original photographs that she buys from Etsy and eBay. O’Connor hand-cuts and assembles an abundance of mixed media, including printed album cover sleeves, mirrored plexiglass, glitter, tile, felt, and ornaments, then lays them over these images. Like a folie à deux, her art becomes a hallucination shared between artist and viewer, disrupting these archetypal scenes.