Oz in the News 4.11.24

The Galveston-born filmmaker who helped make ‘The Wizard of Oz’ a hit

If the tornado scene in The Wizard of Oz feels uncannily realistic, especially for a movie released in 1939, that’s because its director had survived a similar real-life experience. That would be Galveston native King Vidor, son of a successful lumber merchant who would go on to become one of Hollywood’s most successful and influential filmmakers.

Today, although it has temporarily been removed for touch-up work, one of Galveston’s famous “tree sculptures” created after Hurricane Ike–this one at his boyhood home on Winnie Street–honors Vidor’s (pronounced VEE-dor) uncredited contributions to Wizard. Victor Fleming had already directed most of the film when, in February 1939, MGM called him away to finish shooting Gone With the Wind and asked Vidor to take over. The scenes he shot were mostly the black-and-white Kansas part of the story, including Judy Garland’s singing “Over the Rainbow” and the tornado.

The latter scene took Vidor back to when he was a boy of six, when the September 1900 hurricane nearly destroyed Galveston. Decades later, he recalled the utter devastation in a 1980 oral history for the Director’s Guild of America.

“All the wooden structures of the town were flattened,” he said. “The streets were piled high with dead people, and I took the first tugboat out. On the boat I went up into the bow and saw that the bay was filled with dead bodies, horses, animals, people, everything.”

Throughout his career, Vidor was nominated five times for the Best Director Academy Award, for The Crowd; Hallelujah; The Champ; The Citadel; and War and Peace. He never won, losing to George Stevens of the Lone Star epic Giant in his final nomination. Three years before he died at age 88 in 1982, though, the Academy at last gave him an honorary Oscar. Presenting was his War and Peace star Audrey Hepburn.

“By the time the sound era arrived, he was already considered one of Hollywood’s top filmmakers,” she told the audience at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and on worldwide television. “In all the years since then, King Vidor has reaffirmed that position many times over. His range as a filmmaker is extraordinary.”

A sculpture created by artist James D. Phillips honors Vidor’s uncredited role as director of a few scenes of The Wizard of Oz

Oz in the News 4.10.24

$100K for ruby slippers? Minnesota lawmakers put seed money into acquisition of Dorothy’s footwear

Minnesota lawmakers are primed to put some green toward a possible acquisition of the ruby slippers of “Wizard of Oz” fame. 

A bill now staged for final House and Senate votes earmarks $100,000 in dedicated sales tax proceeds to help with a possible purchase of the famous shoes. The pot of money it would be drawn from is devoted to efforts to preserve or promote aspects of Minnesota’s historical legacy.

Lawmakers would set the money aside to “facilitate negotiations” for the purchase of the slippers for the Minnesota Historical Society. There is an expectation the seed money would be combined with “available state funds” and non state sources to acquire the shoes, which would be put on public display at the Grand Rapids museum.

Their estimated value is around $3.5 million so it’s not certain the state’s buying power would get all the way down the — wait for it — yellow brick road.

The grant is a tiny sliver of the $230 million that makes up the Legacy Finance proposal, which also encompasses funding for outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails, the arts and other historically significant programs.

Passage of the bill is expected in the coming days.

Oz in the News 5.9.24

The Wiz Star Avery Wilson Talks His ‘Bold’ Scarecrow Performance in Hit Broadway Revival

Did you grow up watching The Wiz?

Oh my gosh! The movie I grew up with as a kid, for sure. Over and over again I remember watching “You Can’t Win,” that specific scene, but the crazy thing is that I never envisioned myself being in the role. I just was so, I guess, in awe or enamored by Michael Jackson and not seeing him be the entity that he is with the hat and the glove and the sparkles and the this. He was a very different thing on screen. It was a transformative thing that I thought was so interesting to me. But I feel like it’s just a part of our culture, to be honest. It’s something that we all grew up with, I feel like, whether it be the stage play or the movie, but the movie was my introduction.

Oz in the News 5.7.24

Salina breaks ground on $7 million community center on historic L. Frank Baum site

Shovels broke ground Monday at the vacant lot on Brewerton Road that was once the location of author L. Frank Baum’s childhood home.

“Our understanding is this is where his childhood home was located. We have been working with the L. Frank Baum Foundation and a potential partnership into the community center,” said Salina Town Supervisor Nick Paro.

Plans for the community center include a museum dedicated to Baum, known for writing “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

“Not only is it going to be, you know, a beautiful giant, community center for the community to have all different kinds of activities, from the seniors to teens But also, it’s going to be a chance for history to be throughout the entire building,” said Daniel Ciciarelli, Salina’s Third Ward Councilor.

In addition to the museum, the center will be the new home of the Salina Parks Department, a teen center and an indoor/outdoor stage.

Oz in the news 5.5.24

5 Big Takeaways from the New Broadway Revival of ‘The Wiz’

If You Only Know the Movie Version, This Is the Original Story – Just don’t expect to see Toto or Munchkins on stage. Or those creepy subway puppets from the movie.

One of the Movie Songs Is Now in the Musical -The original first song for the Scarecrow, “I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday,” was replaced in the movie by “You Can’t Win,” performed by Michael Jackson. This new staging, which began with last year’s tour, includes the latter song performed buoyantly by Avery Wilson.

Some of the Musical Elements Have Been Modernized -Notably in the first act, the Tin Man’s number “Slide Some Oil to Me” has a more hip-hop flavor, while another scene features a New Orleans dance line. The opening medley at the top of the second act, “Meet the Wizard,” includes a trap-dance sequence after the Wiz insists on seeing his citizens do something new.

The Show Has a Lot of Razzle-Dazzle to It – Some media have criticized the new production for going full-on with very colorful visuals and a big sound. But the audience that American Songwriter watched it with appreciated the spectacle, which included some impressive video environments from Daniel Brodie, dynamic choreography courtesy of JaQuel Knight, and striking set pieces from Hannah Beachler.

One Can Never Tire of “Ease on Down the Road” – The peppy signature song of The Wiz is fun to see performed onstage. Even though it emerges three times in Act I and at least one more time in Act II, it always clicks. In the first act there is a New Orleans version of “Ease on Down,” and the second act features a slower variant. It’s funny how a song about easing along is so insistently danceable.

Oz in the News 5.4.24

This episode of “If This Hall Could Talk” takes a close look at a Carnegie Hall icon: Judy Garland. With her magnificent and complex character, a public persona that often differed from her private reality, and incredible vivacity in the face of personal adversity, Garland is a figure who has long inspired and fascinated fans. The album from her landmark 1961 concerts at Carnegie Hall captured these dualities, winning five Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year) and spending weeks at the top of the charts. It has also inspired numerous tribute performances, including a concert celebration led by host Jessica Vosk in 2022. Among the featured voices in this episode is John Fricke, author of “Judy Garland: World’s Greatest Entertainer” and two-time Emmy Award–winning producer for the PBS series “American Masters” and A&E biographical documentaries about Judy Garland.

Oz in the News 5.1.24

Reversed Audio on Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” Drake Diss Features Richard Pryor’s ‘I’m a Phony’ Line From ‘The Wiz’

Kendrick Lamar’s 6-minute diss track, “Euphoria” aimed at Drake had the internet in shambles on Tuesday. Not long after the song arrived, fans uncovered what K.Dot says at the very beginning, which sounds like a bunch of jumbled words. X user @DonaldDarko13 reversed the first few seconds of the record to reveal that Lamar says, “Everything they say about me’s true.” Another X user, @AndreasHale shared that the reversed audio is what Richard Pryor says in 1978’s The Wiz—a remake of 1939’s The Wizard of Oz—when he “gets exposed as a fraud.” The full line from The Wiz is longer: “Everything they say about me is true. I’m a phony.”

The intro is clearly a dig at Drizzy. Genius points out that the reverse audio is particularly interesting because Michael Jackson plays the scarecrow in The Wiz—and that could be another connection to “Like That.” On the song, Kendrick compares himself to Prince and Drake to Michael Jackson

Fourth Annual Oz Land Festival in Peekskill, New York

The Oz Land Festival is going into its fourth annual year! The festival will take place from 1-7pm on Saturday, August 17^th, 2024, on South Street in downtown Peekskill, NY. The festival itself honors diversity, community, and finding your true “home” as a place within yourself where you can make all your dreams come true. Artisan vendors and food will be a part of the festival of course, but the Oz Land Festival is much more than that. There will be interactive dancing on the street. Eventgoers are encouraged to attend the festival dressed in costume as their favorite “Oz” character and feel a spirit of camaraderie with one another. There will be a costume contest as well as a full day of live entertainment, curated by Antonia, including a DJ, a storyteller, dance routines and theatrical acts, including vignettes from “The Wizard of Oz.”

Oz in the News 4.28.24

Mobile Puzzle Adventure Game “Sin of OZ” Officially Launches

viviON, inc. (Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan /Representative Manager: Kousaku Akashi) officially released their new Wizard of Oz-inspired mobile puzzle adventure game, “Sin of OZ”, which is available to the first 100,000 users who download it via the App Store or Google Play.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sin-of-oz/id6464050898

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vivion.sinofoz.gl

Official Site: https://contents.vivion.jp/en/games/oz

“Sin of OZ” is a simple-to-play mobile puzzle game with a dark fairytale-like story. Set in a world inspired by The Wizard of Oz, players take on the role of the Wonderful Wizard himself, who travels with his plush toy and doll friends through a land made dull and colorless by the witches’ power. Many adventures await along the way, and the story advances as you progress through the puzzles. New stages and stories will be added over time. –Dive into this world and try to solve its mysteries!

Oz in the News 4.27.24

‘THE WIZ’ 2024 Broadway Cast Recording Is Coming This Summer

On July 12, the 2024 Broadway cast recording of the latest version of THE WIZ will come out on Immersive/Interscope Recordings, Billboard can reveal.

The 1975 cast album to The Wiz reached No. 43 on the Billboard 200 and won a Grammy for best cast show album. The award went to composer Charlie Smalls and album producer Jerry Wexler. The 1978 film soundtrack climbed a bit higher on the chart — No. 40. The Wiz Live! TV soundtrack reached No. 155.

Oz in the News 4.25.24

King Vidor is remembered with a special award in his name at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. The 2024 Festival is April 25-30

You might not know his name. But, he was a Hollywood pioneer whose half-century career spanned silent films to talkies.

The longtime Central Coast resident directed one of the most iconic movie scenes in history.

King Vidor directed the black and white sequences in the Wizard of Oz, including Judy Garland’s performance of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

He signed with MGM, and made their biggest early hit, The Big Parade, which was a look at World War I through the eyes of an American soldier. It was the studio’s top film at the box office until The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind were released.

The San Luis Obispo Film International Film Festival is now keeping his name alive, with an award presented every year for excellence in filmmaking.

Skye McLennan is Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo festival. “We named it after King because because he was a local resident…it seemed like the perfect fit,” said McLennan.
 
Some of the past honorees include Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges, Morgan Freeman, and Ann-Margaret.