All Wound Up

I'm overjoyed to report that my book on the history of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz has finally gone off to the printer. All Wound Up: The Making of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz tells the complete story of the musical extravaganza that L. Frank Baum, Louis F. Gottschalk, and Oliver Morosco first brought to the public stage in March 1913. The 406-page volume is packed full of information on the creation and production of the show. Hundreds of photographs and other images of the actors, the scenes, and artifacts related to the show fill the pages of this big volume.

All Wound Up includes what remains of L. Frank Baum's original 1913 script for The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, which survives unfortunately incomplete, published for the very first time. Also published for the first time is The Rainbow's Daughter; or, The Love Magnet, Baum's 1909 scenario--fortunately complete--for what eventually became The Tik-Tok Man of Oz on stage.

Louis F. Gottschalk, composer of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, has never had a full-length biography published before. So I've included a short one in All Wound Up, covering Gottschalk's career on Broadway before The Tik-Tok Man of Oz and his career as a composer of motion picture scores afterward.

All Wound Up includes the story of Hank the Mule. Fred Woodward, who played Hank the Mule in The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, filled roles created by L. Frank Baum for most of his career. Woodward appeared as both the Cowardly Lion and the Frolicsome Heifer in the original stage production of The Wizard of Oz. After playing Hank the Mule in The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, Woodward appeared in all the Oz Film Manufacturing Company movies, then went on to play Hank the Mule for several decades around the world. And Woodward wasn't the only one to play Hank. A second Hank played throughout the USA and developed a couple surprising ties to the 1939 MGM motion picture version of The Wizard of Oz.

In full color, All Wound Up: The Making of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz will be published about the end of April by Hungry Tiger Press. Also available will be brand new performing versions of the script and score of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, based on my reconstructions for the 2014 revival. I'll post here to announce when all three books are available.

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