The Marvelous Land of Oz - Stage Elements

Stage Elements

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz had been transformed into a stage play, and in this work, several elements were clearly incorporated with an eye to that adaptation and to the possible adaptations of this work. The Marvelous Land of Oz was dedicated to David C. Montgomery and Fred Stone, the comedians "whose clever personations of the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow have delighted thousands of children throughout the land..." This is referred to in the acknowledgements for Son of a Witch where Gregory Maguire acknowledges all of the cast of the stage musical, especially Joel Grey, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. in the 1902 stage adaptation of the first Oz book. From their importance to the play, a similar importance is given them this work, where neither Dorothy nor the Cowardly Lion appear.

The Marvelous Land of Oz was also influenced by the story and vaudevillian tone of the stage play. The character of the Wizard was in the book a good man though a bad wizard but in the play, the villain of the piece; this is reflected by the evil part he is described as having played in the back story of this work. The two armies of women, both Jinjur's and Glinda's, were so clearly intended as future chorus girls that even reviews of the book noted the similarity.