Press Release

Click Here for PDF version of this Press Release
Click Here for Press Photos

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


A Century of OZ on Stage 1903—2003
New Recording Celebrates a Hundred Years of THE WIZARD OF OZ on Broadway

San Diego, CA — August 5, 2003 — America’s favorite fairytale comes to life in a new two CD set Vintage Recordings from the 1903 Broadway Musical—The Wizard of Oz from Hungry Tiger Press. But this isn’t the Judy Garland favorite—it’s a long-lost Broadway show from 1903! And it’s The Wizard of Oz like you’ve never heard it before, featuring ragtime for the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, a song about Budweiser beer for the Wizard, and a roller-skating number for Dorothy.

Record producer and musical theater historian David Maxine has been working on the project for more than five years: “I’d grown up with L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz books, I worked in musical theatre, and I had a passion for old recordings, really old recordings from the early 1900s! Then suddenly this almost forgotten Broadway musical of The Wizard of Oz entered my life, my three interests were all neatly tied together, and the hunt for playbills, stage photos, and old records began. I’ve recreated the show using hundred-year-old sound recordings—everything from old wax cylinder records to perforated-metal music box discs!”

“These days hit children’s books get a movie deal, but back then you got a Broadway show,” says Maxine. “This show was a blockbuster at the time. It was the equal of Cats or Phantom of the Opera before World War I. It set records in New York and continued to tour the country until 1911 and was revived periodically until the beloved MGM movie superseded it.” Over the years The Wizard of Oz has been turned into silent films, animated cartoons; the 1970s gave us The Wiz, and later this year Wicked, a new musical inspired by The Wizard of Oz, will open on Broadway.

The CD set comes with two thrity-two page booklets containing all of the song lyrics, details about the recordings, and lots of photos and drawings. “I wanted the CDs to recreate the experience of the show as fully as possible,” says Maxine. “So when you listen to one of the records, you can read along with the lyrics, see photos of the original performers, and get an idea of what it must have been like to sit in the audience and see this show back in 1903. I loved these old recordings the first time I heard them. But when I first started this project I was afraid other people wouldn’t. But I’ve found that what made people laugh a hundred years ago still makes people laugh. And what made the show live, the sound of the coming jazz, the quirky mix of operetta and ragtime, will still get your feet tapping.”

This Wizard of Oz score offers a smorgasbord of pop-tunes from the early 1900s. The 2 CD set retails for $29.99 and it can be ordered on-line from www.hungrytigerpress.com where you can also download free sound samples. For additional information, or to order by phone, call (619) 582-5106 or write to: Hungry Tiger Press, 5995 Dandridge Lane, Suite 121, San Diego, CA 92115.

For additional information contact:
Eric Shanower
Hungry Tiger Press
Phone/Fax (619) 582-5106
E-mail: questions@hungrytigerpress.com
Website: www.hungrytigerpress.com

Press photos are available on-line at: http://hungrytigerpress.com/photos.shtml

###

HUNGRY TIGER PRESS 5995 Dandridge Lane, Suite 121 San Diego, CA 92115-6575 (619)582-5106 voice/fax questions@hungrytigerpress.com