Originally published in The Baum Bugle, vol. 62, no. 3 (Winter 2018), pgs. 42–43
Citations
Chicago 17th ed.:
Gessel, Michael. Review of Ozma of Oz, by the H-B Woodlawn Program, Baum Bugle 62, no. 3 (2018): 42–43.
MLA 9th ed.:
Gessel, Michael. Review of Ozma of Oz, by the H-B Woodlawn Program, The Baum Bugle, vol. 62, no. 3, 2018, pp. 42–43.
(Note: typographical errors have been left in place to accurately reflect the printed version.)
Ozma of Oz
December 6–7, 2018
H-B Woodward Program, Arlington, Virginia
A romping, fun-filled production of L. Frank Baum’s third Oz book, Ozma of Oz, was mounted by middle school students (Grades 6-8) of the H-B Woodlawn Program. The adaptation, written and directed by longtime Washington, D.C.-area theater and film teacher Tom Mallan, was a tribute to one of the most popular books in the Oz series as well as a high-energy frolic targeting audiences of all ages.
Mallan originally wrote and produced the play in 2005 while he was working at an American school in Costa Rica. He got the idea when he read the Oz series to his children, just as they had been read to him when he was a child. He rejected producing The Wizard of Oz because the 1939 movie is so established; Ozma had the advantage of including the well-known Oz characters only in minor roles, focusing instead on the “incredible inventiveness” of new ones that Mallan found “hilarious at various levels.” “Baum’s writing is so witty and heavy in dialogue,” he says, “it wrote itself easily.”
Mallan was also drawn to Ozma because of the strong female characters, including Dorothy, Ozma, Billina, and Princess Langwidere, who are “neither weak nor childlike . . . they aren’t objectified or sexualized.” That’s a big plus for a middle school production because, according to Mallan, more middle school girls than boys are interested in acting.
Mallan’s adaptation closely follows Baum’s story, with some changes. The events in the Nome King’s ornament rooms are shortened, quickly moving the action to the breaking of the enchantments. Mallan also found opportunities to create ensembles and bring more students into the cast: singing and dancing chickens, robots, and Nomes increase the number of parts and enhance the fun.
In the one major departure from the original text, the captain of Dorothy’s storm-battered ship—who follows her to Ev with Uncle Henry—turns out to be King Evoldo, presumed dead by drowning. “Baum had this ugly edge, [this] darkness,” Mallan says. “The tragedy of that family is pretty casually thrown out there. These people are not only betrayed by their father, they are sold and turned into ornaments. [ . . . ] I felt it was time to forgive Evoldo and let him come to his family.”
Mallan designed and fabricated unexpectedly elaborate special effects to help bring the story to life on stage. These included the Giant with the Hammer, which was represented by a barrel-sized hammer that rose and fell to menace the characters.
The tour-de-force was Princess Langwidere’s cabinet of heads, which was set on wheels so it could be rolled on- and off-stage. The heads were arranged in two rows of four; inside the cabinet, four girls crouched in front to play the bottom row, and four stood behind them. The girls wore identical dresses, and each took a turn to come out of the cabinet to represent Langwidere wearing that head.
H-B Woodlawn is an alternative public school and relies on students choosing to attend. To attract new students to the school and its theater program, the play was performed for fifth graders from areas of Arlington that are currently underrepresented in the student population. Pop culture references were included for the parents of current students, and events in the story inspired high-energy and campy song-and-dance numbers including “I’ve Never Been to Me,” “Moon River,” “Groove is in the Heart,” and “Good Morning Starshine.” “The idea is for the audience to get sensory overload with the music, the madness,” Mallan says.
This is Mallan’s first production of Ozma of Oz in twelve years; now seemed the right time to revive it. “Thirteen year-olds take a dim view of the world as it is run by the current crop of adults,” he says. “They wanted to do something light, but they are wary of something naïve. It was fun for teenagers, and they didn’t feel ashamed . . . by giving the kids a target audience of children, they felt less insecure about doing a child-friendly play.”
With a two-hour runtime, including a 15-minute intermission, the play was considerably longer than standard children’s fare. However, the sheer exuberance of the actors, the energy of the musical numbers, and the witty dialogue carried the play. The student actors sang and danced with infectious enthusiasm, enjoying the production as much as the audience.
“I always have a secret agenda when I dig up what is, for most people, a pretty obscure work,” says Mallan. “I am trying to put in kids’ minds how satisfying it is to do a deep, close work of literature. I’m proud of that educational aspect. They learned a lot from being part of this adapted work. Hopefully, this really changed them.”
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