"It's always best to start at the beginning...."

In his introduction to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", L. Frank Baum writes:

 "...the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was written solely to pleasure children of to-day. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out."

My introduction to Baum's creation was, like most of us, the annual television airing of MGM's "The Wizard of Oz".  My earliest memory of this yearly phenomenon is fairly grainy and contains only fragments: the cold tile floor of the tv room next to the kitchen...sitting on the floor between my mom's feet watching Carol Burnett...wondering when Carol was going to tug her stupid ear signaling the end of her show...the thrill of the "Special Television Event" segment with clips from the movie...and, finally, I remember the overwhelming sense of magic, wonder and sheer unadulterated excitement when the screen suddenly sprang to life with the sepia toned MGM logo with Leo the Lion roaring me into the most thrilling music my young ears had ever heard. 

The passion I felt, even at that early age, and the passion I still feel for "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is what led me to this blog.  My partner, David (You may see him referred to as DB, JDB3 or The Favorite in future postings) and I are co-directing MGM's stage version of "The Wizard of Oz" for The Green Room Community Theatre http://www.the-green-room.org/ in September.  I have always wanted to write but have never truly found anything I felt passionately enough to write ABOUT...until now. I wanted a way to share my passion for this story, to share the creative process of re-creating this childhood utopia, to share with you what we, as directors and designers, experience on a daily basis...even on a community theatre level.

  *NOTE*: Be prepared for anything....tirades, trivial musings, rants, raves, character studies, design concepts, opinions....ANYTHING. (My friends are already nodding their heads and chuckling. Trust me.)

So, dear friends, take my hand and journey with me into a beautiful landscape of animated scarecrows, metal men, scaredy cats, witches (good and bad), humbugs, magic shoes, yellow brick roads and a truly brave and all-American little girl from Kansas....