Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Biographies

Eduard Cao, Reggie Hutchins, Laura Bueno, Dillon Rendo. 





Biographies of the cast of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz are now online. To see them, click the BIOS link on the menu bar above or click here.

I had gathered bios and headshots to print in a handsomely designed program for the performance on August 9, 2014. But time slipped through my fingers. The night before the show I whipped out a minimal program that would suffice, but bios and photos didn't make it in. I promised myself to publish them all on the website, so here they are.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Original Production Performance Schedule


This partially reconstructed list of the performance schedule of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz during its original ten-month production in 1913-14 is expanded from research begun by Evan McCord and Patrick Maund. The following list incorporates additions and corrections to the list of touring dates for the show included as a sidebar to my article "Guaranteed for a Thousand Years" in The Winkie Con 50 Program Book. Further additions and corrections are welcome. I'll add them as I receive them.

UPDATE: The schedule has been supplemented according to  research by Scott Cummings.
Citation: Cummings, S. "The Tik-Tok Man of Oz 1913-14 Tour Dates" in The Baum Bugle, vol. 58, no. 3 (Winter 2014). San Francisco: The International Wizard of Oz Club, Inc., p. 40.

UPDATE: Seattle and Sacramento dates and theaters added. 

UPDATE: Performances added, some corrections made.

UPDATE (August 1, 2023): Performances added, some corrections made.

March 31-April 19, 1913 – Los Angeles, California – Majestic Theater
April 21-May 10 – San Francisco, California – Cort Theater
May 25-August 23 – Chicago, Illinois – George M. Cohan’s Grand Opera House
August 24-30 – St. Paul, Minnesota – Metropolitan
August 31-September 6, 1913 – Minneapolis, Minnesota – Shubert
September 8-13 – Indianapolis, Indiana – Murat Theatre
September 14-20 – Cincinnati, Ohio – Lyric Theater
September 21-27 – St. Louis, Missouri – Shubert
September 28-October 4 – Kansas City, Missouri – Shubert Theater
October 6 – St. Joseph, Missouri – Tootle
October 7 – Lawrence, Kansas – Bowersock Theatre
October 8 – Topeka, Kansas – Grand Theater
October 9 – Beatrice, Nebraska – New Paddock
October 10-11 – Lincoln, Nebraska – Oliver Theatre
October 12-15 – Omaha, Nebraska – Brandeis Theater
October 16 – Sioux City, Iowa  Grand
October 17-18 – Des Moines, Iowa – Berchel
October 19 – Burlington, Iowa – Grand Opera House
October 20 – Davenport, Iowa – Burtis
October 21 – Moline, Illinois – Moline Theatre
October 22 – Rock Island, Illinois – Illinois theater
October 23 – Joliet, Illinois – Joliet Theatre
October 24 – Rockford, Illinois – Grand Theater
October 25 – Janesville, Wisconsin – Myers Opera House
October 26-November 1 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Davidson
November 2 – Sheboygan, Wisconsin – Opera House
November 4 – Madison, Wisconsin – Fuller Opera House
November 5 – La Crosse, Wisconsin – La Crosse Theater
November 6 – Winona, Minnesota – Opera House
November 7 – Mankato, Minnesota
November 8 – Mason City, Iowa
November 9 – Fort Dodge, Iowa – Princess Theatre
November 10 – Waterloo, Iowa – Waterloo
November 11 – Marshalltown, Iowa – Odeon Theater
November 12 – Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Greene's Opera House
November 13 – Dubuque, Iowa – Grand Opera House
November 14 – Clinton, Iowa – Clinton Grand Opera House
November 15 – Streator, Illinois – Plumb Theatre
November 16 – Racine, Wisconsin – Racine Theatre
November 18 – Wausau, Wisconsin – Grand Opera House
November 19 – Eau Claire, Wisconsin – Grand Theater
November 21-22 – Duluth, Minnesota – Lyceum Theater
November 24-29 – Winnipeg, Manitoba – Walker Theatre
December 1 – Miles City, Montana – Miles City Opera House
 December 2 – Billings, Montana – Babcock Theater
December 3 – Butte, Montana – Broadway Theatre
December 4 – Anaconda, Montana – Margaret Theatre
December 5 – Helena, Montana – Helena Theatre
December 6 – Great Falls, Montana – Grand Opera House
December 8 – Missoula, Montana – Missoula Theater
December 9-10 – Spokane, Washington – Spokane Theatre
December 11 and/or 12 – Seattle, Washington – Moore Theater
December 13 – Tacoma, Washington – Tacoma Theater
December 25-27 – Oakland, California – Macdonough Theater
December 28-29 – San Jose, California – Victory Theater
December 30-31 – Stockton, California – Yo Semite Theater
January 1-2, 1914 – Sacramento, California – Clunie Theater
January 3-4 – Reno, Nevada – Majestic Theater
January 5 – Chico, California – Majestic Theater
January 6-7 – Oakland, California – Macdonough Theater
January 8 – Fresno, California – Theater Fresno
January 9 – Bakersfield, California – Bakersfield Opera House
January 10 – Santa Barbara, California – Potter Theater
January 11 – San Luis Obispo, California – Elmo Theater
January 14 – San Bernardino, California – Opera House
January 15 – Pasadena, California – Clune's Pasadena Theatre
January 16-17 – San Diego, California – Spreckels Theatre
January 18-24 – Los Angeles, California – Majestic Theatre


These dates and theaters were originally scheduled and announced, then cancelled:

September 2, 1913 – New York, New York – Astor Theater CANCELLED
September 27(?) – Cleveland, Ohio – Colonial Theater CANCELLED
October 22 – Peoria, Illinois CANCELLED
October 24 – Quincy, Illinois CANCELLED
October 25 – Rockford, Illinois CANCELLED
November 16 – La Salle, Illinois CANCELLED
November 17 – Galesburg, Illinois CANCELLED
November 18 – Jacksonville, Illinois CANCELLED
November 19 – Lincoln, Illinois CANCELLED
November 20 – Bloomington, Illinois CANCELLED
November 21, 22 – Peoria, Illinois CANCELLED
November 23 – Decatur, Illinois CANCELLED
November 24 – Terra Haute, Indiana CANCELLED
November 25 – La Fayette, Indiana CANCELLED
November 26 – Logansport, Indiana CANCELLED
November 27 – South Bend, Indiana CANCELLED
November 28 – Goshen, Indiana CANCELLED
November 29 – Kalamazoo, Michigan – Fuller Theater CANCELLED
November 30 – Grand Rapids, Michigan CANCELLED
January 3, 1914 – Chico, California CANCELLED
January 4, – Marysville, California - Marysville Theater CANCELLED

Monday, September 8, 2014

Corrections to the Program Book Essay

For The Winkie Con 50 Program Book I wrote an article, “Guaranteed for a Thousand Years,” that covers the history of L. Frank Baum's 1913 musical The Tik-Tok Man of Oz from the earliest news reports in 1907 through rehearsals for Clockwork Productions's 2014 staging. The article appears on pages 113-72. It contains a number of errors. I've noted them below with corrections.

Frank F. Moore as the Shaggy Man and James C. Morton as Tik-Tok, 1913.

“Guaranteed for a Thousand Years” by Eric Shanower
Errata

Page 113, column two, line eight: for “1905” read “1906”

Page [114], column one, line sixteen: for “Del Coronado” read “del Coronado”

Page 115, line three: for “scenario--a” read “scenario—a”

Page 117, paragraph three, line six: for “1911” read “1910”

Page [121], line nineteen: for "hundred were assembled" read "hundred was assembled"

Page [123], line two: for "Fred C. Woodward" read "Fred Woodward"

Page [126], column one, line nineteen: for “tiger were added.” read “tiger were added—although a tiger appears in at least one photograph that seems to be from the earlier March 1913 rehearsal period.”

Page [127], caption, line three: for “reported in to consist” read “reported to consist”

Page [129], first caption, line two: for "comtemplates" read "contemplates"

Page [129], second caption, line three: for “Fies” read “Files”

Page 133, column one, line three: for "Fairyland Express" read "Fairyland Special"

Page [149], column one, lines nineteen and twenty: for “Mark Hartman” read “Brian De Lorenzo”

Page [150], column two, line twenty-five: for “Patricia Tobias” read “Richard Woitach”

Page [151], line twenty-five: for "fully-stage" read "fully-staged"

Page 153, column one, lines eleven and twelve: for “Sieze Her!, and supplementing it with musical themes from The Tik-Tok Man of Oz.” read “Sieze Her!”

Page 159, from the Dance Ensemble at the bottom of the page, eliminate: “Ana Mendoza”

Page 159, add to the cast list: “Pas de Deux – Alex Flores and Caley Hernandez”

Page 163, column two, lines seven and eight: for “composer--his first was Thomas Ince’s Civilization--and” read “composer—his first was Thomas Ince’s Civilization—and”

Page 166, column two, line two: for “Rogers” read “Rodgers”

Page [167], upper right caption, line two: for “Dunsmore” read “Dunsmure”

Page [167], column two, line four: for “Rogers” read “Rodgers”

Page 172, line fifteen: for "Hotel Del" read "Hotel del"

Page 172, line seventeen: for “1911” read “1910”

Eduard Cao as the Shaggy Man and Reggie Hutchins as Tik-Tok, 2014

Citation for the original article:
Shanower, Eric. "Guaranteed for a Thousand Years." The Winkie Con 50 Program Book. Ed. David Maxine. San Diego: Hungry Tiger Press, 2014. 113-172. Print.

Bottom photo copyright © 2014 Freddy Fogarty. All rights reserved.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

The Music of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz


Cover of published "So Do I" sheet music.
One primary goal of reviving Baum and Gottschalk's vintage stage musical The Tik-Tok Man of Oz was to give audience members the chance to hear all the surviving musical numbers in performance. Fourteen songs for the show with lyrics by L. Frank Baum and music by Louis F. Gottschalk survive. One instrumental piece by Gottschalk survives. Three songs written for the show with lyrics by Oliver Morosco and music by Victor Schertzinger survive. One song written by Victor Schertzinger survives. These nineteen numbers were all part of the performance on August 9, 2014.

Two of the commercially released selections of Gottschalk music from The Tik-Tok Man of Oz were performed as well. The main "Selection" served as the Overture. The "Lanciers" served as the Entr'acte.

At least twelve musical numbers from the original 1913-14 production are not known to survive. Gottschalk's music for "A Storm at Sea" is one that's gone. To fill this hole, "A Roman Holiday" by Gottschalk from his unproduced score for Julius Sees Her! was substituted, modified by musical director Joseph Grienenberger to fit the action of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz Prelude.

Polychrome, Shaggy, Betsy, Ozma, and Hank listen to Tik-Tok sing "The Clockwork Man."
No finale survives for either Act One or Act Two. For the Act One finale, lyrics by L. Frank Baum in the earliest existing script for the show, a version from 1909, were slightly modified by Eric Shanower to fit a combination of music from "Ask the Flowers to Tell You" and "The Army of Oogaboo." For the Act Two finale, the chorus of "The Magnet of Love" was reprised by the entire company.

Cover of published "Ask the Flowers to Tell You" sheet music.
Beyond the fourteen surviving songs with lyrics by Baum, many other Baum lyrics survive in the 1909 version of the script. With one exception these do not have music and it's unclear whether any of them were used in the original 1913-14 production. They were not performed in this production. The one exception is "Fight for Oogaboo" with lyrics by Baum that clearly fit Gottschalk's music for "The Army of Oogaboo." Although "Fight for Oogaboo" was performed in the original production, it was not performed in this.

Two known interpolations to the original production—"Forgotten" with lyrics attributed to Flora Wulschner and music by Eugene Cowles, and "One, Two, Three, It's All Over Now," lyricist and composer unknown—were not included in this performance.

All the surviving Tik-Tok Man of Oz music was never included in a single performance of the original production. Songs came and went during its ten month run. But this production fit all the surviving songs into one performance. Over the course of the original production, songs were assigned to different characters. Our production generally assigned each song to the character or characters that primarily sang it in the original. Parts sung by a chorus in the original production were generally sung by principal characters in this.

Baum's lyrics for Tik-Tok's verse in "Folly!" are racially insensitive. Eric Shanower revised them for this production to eliminate mention of an African native eating a missionary.

Listed here are the musical numbers performed in Clockwork Productions's The Tik-Tok Man of Oz. Joseph Grienenberger was the musical director and played keyboard for the performance. Unless otherwise noted, Grienenberger—working from piano/vocal sheet music—orchestrated the music for Michael Fowler (trumpet), Fred Allee (drums and percussion), and Rafael Estrada (double bass).

The Tik-Tok Man of Oz Musical Numbers 

OVERTURE (Gottschalk, arranged for orchestra by J. Bodewalt Lampe) 

Prelude 

“A STORM AT SEA” (Gottschalk, arranged by Joseph Grienenberger from manuscript) – Dance of WAVES and STORM-AT-SEA BETSY 

Act One 

“AN APPLE’S THE CAUSE OF IT ALL” (Baum/Gottschalk) – SHAGGY MAN

“THE MAGNET OF LOVE” (Baum/Gottschalk) – BETSY 

“OH MY BOW” with Dance (Baum/Gottschalk) – POLYCHROME; Dance of POLYCHROME and RAINBOW GIRLS 

“I WANT TO BE SOMEBODY’S GIRLIE” (Schertzinger) - POLYCHROME

“THE CLOCKWORK MAN” (Baum/Gottschalk) – TIK-TOK with BETSY, SHAGGY, OZMA, and POLYCHROME

“THE ARMY OF OOGABOO” (Baum/Gottschalk) – QUEEN ANN and PRIVATE FILES; Dance of ARMY OF OOGABOO

“THERE'S A MATE IN THIS BIG WORLD FOR YOU (Morosco/Schertzinger) OZMA

“ASK THE FLOWERS TO TELL YOU” (Baum/Gottschalk) – OZMA and FILES; Pas de deux 

“DEAR OLD HANK” (Baum/Gottschalk) – BETSY 

“FINALE” (Baum/Gottschalk) – POLYCHROME, FILES, ANN, TIK-TOK, SHAGGY, BETSY, and OZMA; Dance of FIELD FLOWERS 

Act Two 

ENTR'ACTE (Gottschalk) 

“IMPS MARCH” (Gottschalk) – Dance of IMPS 

“WORK, LADS, WORK” (Baum/Gottschalk) – RUGGEDO and IMPS

“WHEN IN TROUBLE COME TO PAPA” (Baum/Gottschalk) – RUGGEDO and POLYCHROME 

“RAINBOW BRIDE” (Baum/Gottschalk) – POLYCHROME with RUGGEDO, ANN, SHAGGY, BETSY, and TIK-TOK

Cover of published "My Wonderful Dream Girl" sheet music.

“MY WONDERFUL DREAM GIRL” (Morosco/Schertzinger) – FILES

“FOLLY!” (Baum/Gottschalk) – TIK-TOK, BETSY, and SHAGGY; Dance of ENSEMBLE

“OH, TAKE ME” (Morosco/Schertzinger) – OZMA and FILES

“JUST FOR FUN” (Baum/Gottschalk) – OZMA and FILES; Dance of ROSES

Dance Music of “OH MY BOW” (Gottschalk) 

“SO DO I” (Baum/Gottschalk) – TIK-TOK and RUGGEDO with BETSY 

“WALTZ SCREAM” (Baum/Gottschalk) – ANN and SHAGGY; Dance of ENSEMBLE 

“THE MAGNET OF LOVE” Chorus Reprise (Baum/Gottschalk) – COMPANY

Finale of Act Two, with Betsy, Polychrome, Imps, Ann, Ugly Man, Ozma, Files, and Royal Gardener.
For complete cast information see this previous blog post.
Photos copyright © Freddy Fogarty 2014. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Tik-Tok Lives!

Finale Act I - Hank the Mule, Betsy, Polychrome, Queen Ann, Shaggy Man, Tik-Tok, Private Files, Ozma.
Clockwork Productions's presentation of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz performed on August 9, 2014, as the Saturday evening program of Winkie Con 50 at the Town and Country Hotel, 500 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, California, for an audience of about two hundred and fifty.

The Shaggy Man arrives in the Rose Kingdom, with Hank, Moss Rose, Jacque Rose, and Betsy.
Preparations continued up until the last moment—I was hanging mirror-ball fruit onto the metal forest trees for Act 2, Scene 2, just an hour before the performance began. The show was a triumph, due to the efforts of all involved. Appreciative comments from the audience afterward focused on the performance of ten-year-old Alyson Stein as the gymnastic Royal Gardener and on the beautiful voices of the principal singers—Tamara Rodriguez as Polychrome probably was mentioned most often. The audience took favorable notice of  Eduard Cao's comic timing as the Shaggy Man. Chris Boltz's lighting as well as Eric Shanower and David Maxine's costumes also garnered praise. Negative reaction was primarily reserved for L. Frank Baum's script.

Ruggedo and Polychrome.
Final credits for this production of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz:

Book and Lyrics by L. Frank Baum
Music composed by Louis F. Gottschalk
Additional songs by Oliver Morosco and Victor Schertzinger
Abridgement by Eric Shanower

Director - Chrissy Burns
Musical Director - Joseph Grienenberger
Lighting Designer - Christopher Boltz
Choreographer - Jennifer Solomon-Rubio
Set and Costume Designers - David Maxine and Eric Shanower 

Cast:
Betsy Bobbin, from Oklahoma - Laura Bueno
Hank the Mule - Dillon Rendo
The Shaggy Man - Eduard Cao
Ozma, the Rose Princess - Kendra Truett
Polychrome, Daughter of the Rainbow - Tamara Rodriguez
Tik-Tok, the Clockwork Man - Reggie Hutchins
Queen Ann Soforth of Oogaboo - Amanda Everett
Private Files - Vander Turner
Ozma, the Rose Princess, and Private Files
Ruggedo, the Metal Monarch - Danny Ingersoll

Storm-at-Sea Betsy, Royal Gardener - Alyson Stein
Moss Rose - Sydney Kerl
Jacque Rose - Taylor Schwartz
The Ugly Man - Eric Shanower

Dance Ensemble - Taylor Hamilton, Caley Hernandez, Sydney Kerl, Sydney Rei, Taylor Schwartz, Alyson Stein, and Carmina Vasquez

Pas de Deux - Alex Flores and Caley Hernandez

Orchestra:
Conductor and Keyboard - Joseph Grienenberger
Trumpet - Michael Fowler
Drums and Percussion - Fred Allee
Double Bass - Rafael Estrada

Assistant Director and Assistant Stage Manager - Nikki Jacquot
Make-up - Taylor Schwartz
Wardrobe and Props - J’nae Rae Spano, Lauren Ladley, Karen Ladley, and Danielle Stein
Lighting Assistant - Jim Keller

Queen Ann commands.
Spotlight Operators - Stephanie Godoy and Meredith O’Gwynn
Sound Engineer - John Volk
Videographers - Bob Bates, Marilyn Bates

Polychrome’s dress constructed by Claudia La Rue
Tik-Tok’s clockwork chestplate constructed by David Maxine

Additional costume, prop, and set construction - David Kelleher, Reggie Hutchins, Claudia La Rue, Tina Fellows, Amanda Everett, Eduard Cao, Joe Phillips, Sandy Firestone, Lauren Ladley, Karen Ladley, Freddy Fogarty, Danny Ingersoll, Ted Abenheim, Joseph Fombon, and Rebecca Klein

House Manager - Chris Fowler
Ushers -  Robyn Segel Shifren, Laurie Painter McGuerty, and Rich Snyder

I'd also like to thank: Infinity Dance Arts, 1075 Broadway, El Cajon, California, for generously donating audition and rehearsal space and loaning some costumes and props; Ellen Joy Weber, Candice Hooper, and Christian Esquevin of the Coronado Public Library in Coronado, California, for loaning a prop; Freddy Fogarty for giving permission to publish his photos, for which he reserves all rights, on this post; and all donors who are listed here.

Curtain Call.