{"id":623,"date":"2025-05-07T11:23:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T11:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/?p=623"},"modified":"2025-05-07T11:23:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T11:23:18","slug":"oz-stravaganza-2025broadway-and-hollywood-talent-film-makers-andfamily-members-of-oz-gather-june-6-8-forthe-48th-edition-of-the-longest-of-the-longest-running-f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/05\/07\/oz-stravaganza-2025broadway-and-hollywood-talent-film-makers-andfamily-members-of-oz-gather-june-6-8-forthe-48th-edition-of-the-longest-of-the-longest-running-f\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOZ-STRAVAGANZA! 2025\u201d:BROADWAY AND HOLLYWOOD TALENT, FILM-MAKERS, AND\u201cFAMILY MEMBERS OF OZ\u201d GATHER JUNE 6-8 FORTHE 48th EDITION OF THE LONGEST OF THE LONGEST-RUNNING FESTIVAL IN OZZY HISTORY!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By John Fricke<\/h3>\n\n\n
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It began almost five decades ago as an informal Saturday afternoon event: local kids in WIZARD OF OZ costumes, joyously \u201cparading\u201d around an empty parking lot and then adjourning indoors for birthday cake. The location? Well, it could have been anywhere in the world where the classic story of Dorothy and her friends had ever been heard or read \u2013 or in any of the global locations in which the legendary Judy Garland movie had been seen. This was a special event, though, as it took place in Chittenango, NY, the birthplace of L. Frank Baum, and it celebrated the birthday of that prolific author. Baum was — in today\u2019s parlance — \u201cThe Man\u201d! He wrote THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ book (and thirteen sequels), discovered the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion \u2013 and Toto, too. He explored and described the wonders of the original \u201cmagic kingdom,\u201d with its Emerald City, Yellow Brick Road, enduring good witches \u2013 and squashable or liquidate-able wicked witches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, that initial costume parade and cake party is how a hometown celebration for Baum started forty-six events ago \u2013 created, launched, and initially sustained by cherished native educator and librarian Clara Houck. One certainly couldn\u2019t have defined those first years as \u201ca festival\u201d . . . but seemingly the combined (if far-off) sorcery of Glinda the Good and the Wizard of Oz himself slowly worked sublime magic over Chittenango. For now, \u201cfestival\u201d is but one of the glowing, expansive, and heralding nouns that describe what has become the village\u2019s annual OZ-STRAVAGANZA!: three full days of family joy AND the longest-running and most widely attended annual Oz-related weekend in the world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s 48th<\/sup> \u201cspectacular\u201d is titled EASE ON DOWN THE WICKED ROAD, acknowledging both the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of the debut of Broadway\u2019s THE WIZ and the extraordinary world-wide success of the first WICKED movie last autumn \u2013 with WICKED 2 (WICKED FOR GOOD) due at Thanksgiving 2025. OZ-STRAVAGANZA!\u2019s pleasures take place from Friday afternoon, June 6th<\/sup> through Sunday afternoon, June 8th<\/sup>. The enjoyment, the activities, the presentations, and the Ozian thrills encompass special experiences, special guests, Oz and craft vendors, carnival rides, contests, food, and fun. Best of all, there\u2019s no admission charge to Oz Park, to the glorious parade, to the outdoor live entertainment, to the awards ceremonies, to the Celebrity Tent, or to the Friday and Saturday evening talks by the diversely gifted women and men who are professionally involved in some aspect of all-things-Oz . . . from the Oz books to the classic THE WIZARD OF OZ film to the currently rhapsodized WICKED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two brand-new featured guests who\u2019ll take the stage at OZ-STRAV! this year \u2013 each with a unique and outstanding connection to Baum\u2019s characters and fantasies. VANESSA O\u2019NEIL honors us by making her first-time-ever appearance at any Oz festival, and she comes to Chittenango to share and rejoice in everyone\u2019s memories of her grandmother, Judy Garland. Judy was only 16 when she first sang \u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d in THE WIZARD OF OZ motion picture, and she then went on to acclaim as the \u201cworld\u2019s greatest entertainer.\u201d Vanessa\u2019s mother is Judy\u2019s second child, singer\/actress Lorna Luft, and Vanessa has her own heartfelt reasons for visiting the festival and meeting those who attend: \u201cGrandma died two decades before I was born, but I have always felt so close to her. As I\u2019ve grown, I\u2019ve had an unwavering desire to connect with those people who have their own devotion, compassion, and love for her. So, coming to Chittenango is a chance for me to share her joy and the joy of Oz \u2013 and I\u2019m on my own \u2018quest\u2019 to get the perspective of others who care about her, adore her, and who celebrate her incomparable legacy.\u201d (Please note: Due to family obligations, Vanessa will only be appearing at the festival on Friday and Saturday.) <\/em><\/strong>Vanessa\u2019s portrait here is augmented by a home-movie \u201cframe grab\u201d from film taken at New York\u2019s Palace Theatre in 1967: that\u2019s her mom, Lorna, and her grandmother, Judy!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Award-winning and innovative filmmaker MICHAEL WILLIAMS joins us \u201cin person\u201d this year after being limited to a brief video interview (\u201cOZ-STRAV! REMOTE!\u201d) during the pandemic in 2021. Happily, he comes to Chittenango to celebrate the 10th<\/sup> anniversary of his remarkable full-length feature motion picture, OZLAND. The backstory of its remarkable creation and the manner in which the young Michael turned out an acclaimed and now treasured movie has to be heard to be appreciated. It\u2019s guaranteed to enthrall any film fan \u2013 or anyone whose ambitions or interest include the established Williams\u2019 credentials of screenwriting, directing, cinematography, and producing. IMPORTANT NOTE: There\u2019ll be a special screening of Michael\u2019s OZLAND \u2013 open to the public \u2013 on Thursday evening, June 5th<\/sup> at the nearby Manlius Cinema. Tickets are required and may be purchased at the door; the presentation begins at 6:30 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Three other returning guests have their own extraordinary historical or contemporary Oz associations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0GITA DOROTHY MORENA is the great-granddaughter of L. Frank Baum — THE WIZARD OF OZ author himself. Her family reminiscences and insights are drawn from her own respected career as an author\/lecturer\/psychoanalyst; her book, THE WISDOM OF OZ: REFLECTIONS OF A JUNGIAN SANDPLAY THERAPIST is a highly acclaimed text that respects Gita\u2019s heritage, her career, and the decades-long omnipresence and merits of Oz in every-day life for millions of people. Gita serves as this year’s Grand Marshal of the parade!<\/p>\n\n\n

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STEVE MARGOSHES \u2013 the \u201cSongsmith of Oz\u201d \u2013 proudly premieres several of his NEW SONGS FROM OZ, a decade-plus project that has resulted in eight original melodies and lyrics. Steve\u2019s composed and written this \u201csong suite\u201d out of his love for the Ozian personalities, the Baumian worlds, and his own heart-held affection for Chittenango. The Margoshes theater credits include the score for the stage musical FAME; orchestrations for such Broadway achievements as THE WHO\u2019S TOMMY, SMOKEY JOE\u2019S CAF\u00c9, and AIDA; and creative and session work with numerous pop music greats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GEORGE M. MAKRINOS is best known \u2013 and certainly revered \u2013 for his (thus-far) two-volume series, AGES OF OZ, for young readers and his coffee-table pictorial, THE ART OF OZ (for all ages!). Those works were published under his nom-d\u2019allegiance, GABRIEL GALE, but for a new and already full-blown career as a Hollywood screenwriter, George is reverting to his family name. Never fear, however: the man\u2019s extraordinary mind, imagination, and dedication are still firmly steeped in Baum and Oz; his new projects are as yet only minimally discussable, but he\u2019ll let OZ-STRAVAGANZA! audiences in on as much (and maybe a little more!) than he\u2019s technically allowed to share.<\/p>\n\n\n

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And (for something like the 33rd<\/sup> time!) I get to be on hand as well, as emcee and interviewer — and as a most appreciative Oz fan. It\u2019s an annual, rejuvenating opportunity \u201cto confer, converse, and otherwise hobnob with my brothers Wizards.\u201d And that means everyone who comes out for the fun. 😊<\/p>\n\n\n

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Happily, Shawn Ryan and Jeffrey Lane Sadecky return as well \u2013 the former with his amazing and colorful designs for the Oz Costume Characters, and the latter for draping, encasing, supervising, monitoring, and aiding in their everyday participation, photos ops, meet-and-greet moments \u2013 and general \u201cwrangling!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The expanded All Things Oz Museum on Genesee Street will share its latest acquisitions \u2013 including NEW items from the actual WICKED movie! \u2013 and will be open for special extended hours and tours across all three days of the festival. (This, of course, includes the gift shop.) The thousands of items on Museum display include an original WICKED stage costume (worn on stage by Academy Award \u201cOscar\u201d winner Patty Duke), vintage Oz books, MGM merchandising, props from Broadway\u2019s THE WIZ, costumes worn by the original 1939 movie Munchkins when they returned to public appearances across the 1990s and into the 2000s . . . and toys, dolls, games, and collectibles. (There\u2019s an admission fee for the Museum itself, but the gift shop may be wandered at will!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What else? The parade begins Saturday afternoon at 2. The celebrities will be in Oz Park on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons. Their onstage interviews and reminiscences take place in the Presbyterian Church, adjacent to Oz Park, on Friday and Saturday evenings beginning at 6 o\u2019clock. There\u2019s a real Yellow Brick Road along Genesee Street. There\u2019s the cOZtume contest and the writing contest. In centrally located Oz Park, you\u2019ll find the aforementioned rides, vendors, food, crafts, Oz memorabilia, and three special silent auctions (one on each day). And there\u2019s free live music and entertainment across all three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enough! Just come and see! With no sense of exaggeration — but with annual exhilaration — it can safely be stated that if you\u2019re seeking \u201cThe Land of Oz\u201d from June 6th<\/sup> through June 8th<\/sup>, you\u2019ll find it in Chittenango, NY. As ever, we anticipate the privilege and glee of YOUR company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as I can\u2019t possibly do justice to everything here, please visit www.oz-stravaganza.com for the complete OZ-Stravaganza! schedule!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gratefully — and most happily — as ever,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 😊<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By John Fricke It began almost five decades ago as an informal Saturday afternoon event: local kids in WIZARD OF OZ costumes, joyously \u201cparading\u201d around an empty parking lot and then adjourning indoors for birthday cake. The location? Well, it could have been anywhere in the world where the classic story of Dorothy and her … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “\u201cOZ-STRAVAGANZA! 2025\u201d:BROADWAY AND HOLLYWOOD TALENT, FILM-MAKERS, AND\u201cFAMILY MEMBERS OF OZ\u201d GATHER JUNE 6-8 FORTHE 48th EDITION OF THE LONGEST OF THE LONGEST-RUNNING FESTIVAL IN OZZY HISTORY!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27,3,21,29,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":635,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions\/635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthingsoz.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}