If you think you’ve read all the Oz things there are to read, I suspect you need to see TheOzIndex.com. Our webmaster, board member, Ozmapolitan Express editor, Facebook administrator — he of many hats — Blair Frodelius created the Index as a database to gather all the Oz related publications he can find. And boy, has he ever found some. Packed with fiction and reference titles, browse around. You’ll find the original Oz books, newer fiction for both kids and adults, biographies, collecting books, literary analysis and “making of” books. You’re sure to find a book that appeals to you.
I grabbed this photo of Blair off his chapter reading of The Wizard of Oz that you can find on our Youtube channel. He read Chapter 16 for us.
Here’s a promo bit from when Anne Hathaway recorded the original story. And here’s her entire reading at just under four hours. Nearly 79,000 people have tuned into Youtube to listen to her read The Wizard of Oz. Perhaps The Magic of Oz, recently celebrated in the Baum Bugle would be a less familiar story? Libravox posted a recording of it here. You can find their entire list of Oz titles on their website.
You can purchase recordings of all Baum’s Oz books, too. One site that sells them is audiobookstore.com.
While most books not yet in the public domain, are not available as free audiobooks, I found Gregory Maguire reading his Wicked sequel, Son of a Witch on Youtube.
Audio productions aren’t limited to books-on-tape (although you’ll find plenty of those). The Colonial Radio Players have created “radio dramatizations” of the first six Oz books. From the modern new take on Oz, Hit the Bricks, (here’s a live table reading if you’d prefer) to the Lux Radio Theater hour-long version of The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland, that was broadcast as a Christmas special in 1950, Youtube has multiple options.
Some of my favorite other-than-book things you might enjoy online include the Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True Recorded in 1995 with an all-star cast, it’s a marvelous way to enjoy the MGM classic.
For a much shorter version of the MGM Film, try the incomparable Bobby McFerrin in his one-man show of the beloved 1939 musical. You can add a version of this performance to your collection if you find the Disney CD “For Our Children, the concert” recorded in 1991 to benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Or, you can enjoy it online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0jxxQGJOJ0
And if you’ve not seen Todrick Hall and Pentatonix, you can’t imagine what you’re missing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rCQJmVaQpg&list=RD5rCQJmVaQpg&start_radio=1
More Todrick? Here’s the online version of his Straight Outta Oz production, that toured the US and Canada in 2016. This Oz production features all original musical written and produced by Hall. It uses the Wizard of Oz as a metaphor to share his own life story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mUSwHhJ6zA
That’s it for now, but its just the tip of the iceberg for the Oz you can find online with just a little sleuthing.
