New to Oz? Jane Albright, Oz enthusiast, collector, and long-time member of the International Wizard of Oz Club will start Thursday morning’s TeslaCon programming in the Oz Club’s breakout room with a whirlwind tour just for you.
If all you know is the classic MGM Musical, or the recent Wicked films are what’s drawn your attention to Oz, you aren’t alone. 125 Years of Oz will run you through highlights of Oz books, the 1903 Broadway production, early silent films, cartoons, The Wiz, and much more. While the emphasis is on books, stage, and screen production, Jane weaves toys, collectibles, characters, comics, the greater Oz fan community, and much more into this presentation. Think of it as a shortcut to discovering the bigger picture.
Jane also co-presents with Ryan Jay a talk about the Wheelers, a cyborg race that races around on four wheels in place of hands and feet. Her Sunday presentation show you ways to continue exploring Oz after TeslaCon wraps up. That talk looks at Oz destinations around the US you can visit, and scans through a website focused on helping you find all the Oz places and events imaginable.
Presenter: Jane Albright
A past president of the International Wizard of Oz Club, Jane Albright joined it as a 12-year-old in 1971. She frequently draws from her extensive collection to support Oz exhibits from her home in Kansas City. She’s written Oz fiction for the Club’s annual anthology, which she currently edits. And she occasionally has non-fiction published in The Baum Bugle over topics as diverse Oz illustrator W.W. Denslow’s private island in Bermuda, the history of Oz puppetry, and Mouseketeer Bobby Burgess’s performance as the Scarecrow in Walt Disney’s unproduced Rainbow Road to Oz. She received the Club’s highest honor, The L. Frank Baum Memorial Award in 2000.
One of her Club responsibilities is making sure member conventions happen, so she will be wearing a number of figurative hats during TeslaCon. Since she’s also tackling all the contests, expect a literal hat or two, too.
If you’re curious enough to search her on Google or Youtube, “Stick ‘Oz’ after my name,” she says. “Because I share it with a celebrated woman’s basketball coach—who has far more reason than I to be in the news.”