Vol. 68, no. 3 (Winter 2024)

Editor-in-Chief	Sarah K. Crotzer
Production Editor	Sarah K. Crotzer (uncredited)
Bibliography Editor	Peter E. Hanff
Reviews Editor	Atticus Gannaway
Editorial Assistant	Christina Maffa

Front cover photo by Martha Swope (Hinton Battle and Stephanie Mills)

Interior front photos by an unknown photographer (Wiz costumes)

Interior back cover art by Tom John (Wiz set designs)

Back cover art by Tom John (“The Journey from Home: Revisiting The Wiz at 50”)

Winter 2024 Selected Contents

This is a guide to the articles and reviews from the issue that will most benefit researchers, scholars, and collectors. The printed issue includes additional content such as news, editorial letters, and other commentary-based departments.

 

They Call My Name

Tony-winning choreographer George Faison, interviewed by April Berry and Jane Albright, recalls his dance inspirations, his early career, and the trials and tribulations that led to The Wiz on Broadway. 

 

The Wiz That Wasn’t

Profiles of more than thirty actors, dancers, and singers who auditioned for The Wiz but would become familiar to audience over the next two decades in other parts on the stage, in movies, and on TV.

 

The Wiz That Was

A brief look at the beautiful Wiz costumes designed by the iconic Geoffrey Holder that reside at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

 

A Few Inconsequential Thoughts About Scrum

Sarah K. Crotzer provides an irreverent look back at Grampa in Oz, this year’s centennial novel, and attempts to solve the mystery of its imaginary board game, scrum.

 

Oz Under Scrutiny: Grampa in Oz

Scott Cummings provides a brief analysis of and excerpts from contemporary reviews of Thompson’s fourth Oz book.

 

The Journey to the Annotated Wizard (Pt. 2)

In the second half of our new interview, Michael Patrick Hearn discusses his emergence onto the New York writing scene, the discoveries he made researching The Annotated Wizard of Oz, and the people who helped him along the way.

 

A Letter to Oz Enthusiasts

L. Frank Baum’s great-grandaughter Gita Dorothy Morena tells the story of the recovery of long-lost illustrations from one of her ancestor’s earliest works—from the point of view of the illustrations.

 

Adventures in Oz

Brady Schwind details his friendship and professional collaborations with Tom John, the original set designer of The Wiz on Broadway. Tom’s new painting, reimagining the Munchkinland set fifty years later, debuts on our back cover! 

 

Reviews

After Oz by Gordon McAlpine (fiction; reviewer Mike Penick)

All Wound Up: The Making of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz by Eric Shanower (non-fiction; reviewer Atticus Gannaway)

Toronto Civic Light Opera Company performances of the first three Oz books (audiobooks; reviewer Sarah K. Crotzer)

Monopoly: Wicked Edition (games; reviewer Sarah K. Crotzer)