Oz Magic for the Holidays

Did you know Santa Claus has Oz connections?  Oz author L. Frank Baum wrote about him in The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902), and included Santa among the guests at Ozma’s birthday party in his fifth Oz book, The Road to Oz.  And the Oz characters visited Santa's workshop in Baum's 1901 newspaper comic page. It’s only fitting that All Things Oz, an Oz museum in Baum’s birthplace of Chittenango, New York, would offer a Santa exhibit and welcome Santa himself Dec. 8 to start the holiday season.

Kermit the Frog, who has appeared a time or two as the Scarecrow of Oz, takes on the role of the Wizard Dec. 15-30 in Pasadena, Ca., when the Panko Musical Theatre presents an original production, “The Wonderful Winter of Oz.” (Buy your child a "golden ticket" and they can join the cast on stage!) 

The Holiday Ink Rink at Pershing Square in Los Angeles now features “Wicked Wednesdays.” The ice will be flooded with green light and skaters will skate to songs from the popular musical. Plus, the first 50 guests at the 7:00 p.m. skating session each week will receive a special gift from “Wicked”!  

For a Midwestern Oz experience during the holiday season, The Paramount Theatre’s live production of the classic musical in Aurora, Ill., continues all through December.  

Another lavish stage production of the classic musical takes the stage in Blackpool, England, Dec. 7-30. Holly Tandy from “The X Factor” has the role of Dorothy, Kelvin Fletcher from the British soap opera “Emmerdale” is the Tin Man, and Blackpool’s “Radio Wave” star Scott Gallagher plays the Cowardly Lion. 

Article by The International Wizard of Oz Club