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THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF L. FRANK BAUM’S OZ AND ITS ADAPTATIONS
Tuesday, September 23 , 9:30 am – 11:30 am CDT
September 9, 16, 23, 30 (Tuesdays) 9:30-11:30 am
Attend in person at ISU’s Alumni Center, 1101 N. Main St., Normal
OR
Watch Online via Zoom
FEES:
$35 for Senior Professional members (includes all four sessions)
$45 for non-members (includes all four sessions)
For in-person participation, pricing is per person.
For Zoom participation, pricing is one registration per household.
Price includes:
Four 2-hour sessions (one Academy of Seniors class).
$15 single-session option available for in-person attendance (pay at door).
Register online at seniorprofessionals.illinoisstate.edu or call (309) 438-2160.
Zoom participants will receive a Zoom link a week prior to the start of the class(es) and again on the day of each session.
L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is considered to be the great American fairy tale. The children’s novel remains popular and is regularly revised and reinterpreted for contemporary audiences.
September 9: L. Frank Baum and his Wonderful Wizard of Oz
This session will provide an overview of the life and multi-faceted career of Baum as an actor, author, and early filmmaker as well as the Baum/Bloomington connection. The class will examine The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the first book in his popular Oz series for children.
September 16: Over the Rainbow: MGM film version of The Wizard of Oz
We will consider the various ways Victor Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz modified Baum’s novel into a family film that made Judy Garland, as Dorothy, and Margaret Hamilton, as the Wicked Witch of the West, iconic movie characters.
September 23: The Dark Versions of Oz
This session will examine adaptations of Oz that are geared for adolescent and adult readers focusing on Philip José Farmer’s science fiction, A Barnstormer in Oz (1982), and Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), a dystopian representation of Oz.
September 30: Defying Gravity: Two Adaptions of Gregory Maguire’s Wicked
Learn about Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s Broadway musical, Wicked (2003), and the Jon Chu’s recent film adaptation (2024) of the long-running Broadway musical. Both versions of Oz are loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s Wicked and trace how Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of West, from her point-of-view.
Jan Susina, Emeritus Professor of English, Illinois State University