Follow the Yellow Brick Road to see the Wizard of Oz in Massachusetts
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 07/30/06
BY ADAM GORLICKTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AMHERST, Mass.: She started off looking like a clownish crazy woman — her long hair in a wild braid and one eye popped wide open. Her petticoat and baggy skirt were more outlandish than frightening.
That was in 1900, when the Wicked Witch of the West made her debut in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." But since W.W. Denslow first drew her for the pages of L. Frank Baum's classic children's book, Dorothy's nemesis has changed faces several times.
In 1981, Andy Warhol silkscreened her as Margaret Hamilton, freezing the actress in the green-faced role she played in Hollywood's 1939 production of the story. Four years later, artist Barry Moser turned her into Nancy Reagan, placing the pointy-hatted first lady against a dismal black backdrop.
The original drawings and reinterpretations of the Wicked Witch and other characters from Oz are on display at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in an exhibit that commemorates the 150th anniversary of the births of Baum and Denslow and pays tribute to the story's staying power.
The exhibit traces the story of Baum's book, from the cyclone that whisks Dorothy's Kansas farmhouse to the mystical land of Oz to the young girl's return home thanks to her magical slippers. As the show retells the adventure, it highlights different ways that artists have interpreted the story.
Dorothy — an almost stocky and seemingly stubborn little girl in the 1900 original — softens in the images inspired nearly 30 years later by Judy Garland's portrayal of the character in MGM's 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz."
"Baum's Dorothy was more aggressive and independent," said Michael Patrick Hearn, guest curator of the exhibit and author of "The Annotated Wizard of Oz."
"All the power in the story is with women," Hearn said. "The Wizard is ineffectual, and Dorothy's three male friends have faults and weaknesses."
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006607300320
BY ADAM GORLICKTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AMHERST, Mass.: She started off looking like a clownish crazy woman — her long hair in a wild braid and one eye popped wide open. Her petticoat and baggy skirt were more outlandish than frightening.
That was in 1900, when the Wicked Witch of the West made her debut in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." But since W.W. Denslow first drew her for the pages of L. Frank Baum's classic children's book, Dorothy's nemesis has changed faces several times.
In 1981, Andy Warhol silkscreened her as Margaret Hamilton, freezing the actress in the green-faced role she played in Hollywood's 1939 production of the story. Four years later, artist Barry Moser turned her into Nancy Reagan, placing the pointy-hatted first lady against a dismal black backdrop.
The original drawings and reinterpretations of the Wicked Witch and other characters from Oz are on display at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in an exhibit that commemorates the 150th anniversary of the births of Baum and Denslow and pays tribute to the story's staying power.
The exhibit traces the story of Baum's book, from the cyclone that whisks Dorothy's Kansas farmhouse to the mystical land of Oz to the young girl's return home thanks to her magical slippers. As the show retells the adventure, it highlights different ways that artists have interpreted the story.
Dorothy — an almost stocky and seemingly stubborn little girl in the 1900 original — softens in the images inspired nearly 30 years later by Judy Garland's portrayal of the character in MGM's 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz."
"Baum's Dorothy was more aggressive and independent," said Michael Patrick Hearn, guest curator of the exhibit and author of "The Annotated Wizard of Oz."
"All the power in the story is with women," Hearn said. "The Wizard is ineffectual, and Dorothy's three male friends have faults and weaknesses."
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006607300320
