What we know of Oz: The second extravaganza
If you remember what I said a long, long, LONG time ago, the first Oz book was adapted into a stage musical (an âextravaganzaâ as they were called back then) by Baum in collaboration with other big names of the time, and it was a MASSIVE success, so much that the MGM movie actually borrowed a lot of elements from it. It was the success of this extravaganza that made Baum write the sequel to âThe Wonderful Wizard of Ozâ: âThe Marvelous Land of Ozâ. The bookâs more adult tone, love for puns and jokes, and great focus on the Scarecrow and the Tin Man (the stars and most beloved actors of the Wizard extravaganza) were all intended so that the book would be easier to adapt as a musical. When you think about it, the big reveal of Tip as being Ozma is also actually something Baum wrote with in mind the idea of a stage play: indeed, at the time, young male roles and boy characters were often played by young ladies, and as a result this kind of âgender revealâ where a male turns out to be a woman was very common and very easy to do in those kind of theatric performances. (So yeah, to all of you who hoped Baum was defending transgender rights, he was actually trying to make money out of a future musical. Sorry for your hopes.)
But Baum had a tiny bit of problem⌠He had already started to write a musical that would follow the first one, a stage adaptation of the second novel titled âThe Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodmanâ. Hell he started writing it in 1903, so before âThe Marvelous Landâ (the book) got even published. As you can see he really designed it all to feature the two iconic character of the play. But turned out that the star actors, Fred Stone and David Montgomery, refused to play in it, because the âWizard of Ozâ extravaganza was still playing and they refused to abandon the show for a potential sequel.
As a result, Baum had to rewrite his intended story by removing the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman⌠so he had no Dorothy, no Cowardly Lion, no Scarecrow, no Tin Woodman⌠who was going to be the main feature? * looks over to Tip/Ozma* ITâS GOING TO BE THE WOGGLE-BUG of course!
Indeed this secondary character with no relevance to the plot of the actual book, here just for laughs, has become the star of the extravaganza. And thus in 1905 âThe Woggle-Bugâ was released, the second Oz extravaganza and an adaptation of âThe Marvelous Land of Ozâ. So what was different?
# When Jack Pumpkinhead comes to life there is a dance where âHarvest Spritesâ appear in the pumpkin field surrounding Mombiâs hut and bow down to Jack as if he was their king.
# After Jack is brought to life and Tip leads him away from Mombiâs hut (no mention of petrification potion or Tip fleeing Mombi), we cut to the school of Professor Knowitt (who you might remember from the Woggle-Bugâs story, where he was called Knowittall), where the students are actually here children (in the book itself it was unclear if the school taught to children or older pupils). As with the original story, the Professor magnifies the Woggle-Bug on a screen with a magic magnifying glass, only for the bug to get off the screen and bow down to everyone. The Professor tries to put him back in the screen, to not effect. As in the book, the Woggle-Bug is very fond of puns, making tons of them, but the thinness of his so-called education is much more prominent here due to constantly mistaking or mispronouncing words (for example he calls âpatoisâ, aka regional language, âpattiesâ, like a beef patty).
# Surprise, Mombi appears right in the middle of this scene! As it turns out, the school of professor Knowitt is the school where Tip studies (big departure from the book, where Tip lived with Mombi and never went to school). Mombi is searching for him, as he actually fled her house with Jack, and the Woggle-Bug, eager to be of assistance, puts himself of service to her â he mistakes the story of Tip and Jack running as the one of lovers fleeing their parents to live their love freely. (There is also a little joke about how, if the Powder of Life can bring to life anything it touches, it should be used on the Democratic Party). The Professor actually fights a bit with Mombi because he refuses to let the creature go, claiming it as his property and discovery, but the Woggle-Bug scares the Professor away by saying that if he is held too long at school, his parents will come âbite himâ. Again, jokes and jokes and puns.
# The plot of Jinjurâs army also crosses over here, because five peasant women (noticed for their lack of grammar and typical âhillbilly talkâ) arrive searching for General Jinjur â who soon arrives, and everyone (including the Professor, Mombi and the rest) bow down to her, as if she had some sort of regional power. The Professor and the Woggle-Bug try to dissuade them from going to war, but the âarmy of gallant milkmaids and scullery ladiesâ is determined for war. Mombi refuses to be enlisted in the army (though Jinjur proposes it), but does make the deal of helping her with magic in exchange of capturing Tip and his Powder ; and the Professor also agrees to assist the army. The five peasant girls also want to join the ranks of Jinjurâs fight against the men, but Jinjur is a bit⌠letâs say she doesnât knows too much what to do of those five peasant-ladies and is a bit awkward around them, so she precisely names them the âAwkward Squadâ.
# About the Awkward Squad, their âcaptainâ and most prominent member is a girl named Prissy, and she is at the center of a very bizarre humoristic subplot about the Woggle-Bug: the Bug falls in love⌠with Prissyâs dress. A beautiful checked dress that he loves and wants for himself, constantly trying to snatch away from the girl.
# Another major change: Jinjur isnât a little girl anymore, oh no. In this play Jinjur is an adult woman (or at least a young woman), and she mentions that she used to attend this very country school house â with Professor Knowitt! Apparently they are of the same age, and there was a strange love triangle where Jinjur was courted by a certain âTommy Bangsâ (that called her âSweet Matildaâ), while Knowitt himself in his youth at the school tried to seduce Jinjur (in fact it is implied he obeys and follow her due to this old infatuation).
# The City of Emeralds has been changed here to âThe City of Jewelsâ (though it is still in the Land of Oz). Interestingly, Tip visibly knows that he used to be Ozma, princess of the City, but was enchanted by Mombi. Tip even has very clear memories of her time as a princess (contrary to the book, where Ozma was enchanted as a baby, this Ozma was visibly enchanted as a young girl). In fact, Tip recalls that as Ozma he had many lovers despite her motherâs âwatchful eyeâ, and one of them almost won his/her heart.
# The Scarecrow has been replaced by the Regent of the City of Jewels, Sir Richard Spud, alongside his faithful sidekick âLord Stuntâ. As with the Scarecrow, the Regent is tired of the complicated and sophisticated life of a king: he wishes to return to simplicity and honesty, and when he learns about Tip he is so joyful to find back the real ruler that he promises to hunt down for Mombi, to have her return Ozma to her true form.
# The subplot of the dress continues as Mombi suddenly appears wearing Prissyâs dress (for⌠unknown reasons) and the Woggle-Bug, desperate to obtain it, tries to seduce Mombi, to the point they even exchange blowing kisses. Mombi comments that never has anyone fallen in love with her before, and after slipping a few innuendos and ânaughty jokesâ she resolves herself not to answer the Bugâs seduction, because if she ever got married the âhobgoblinsâ would stop obeying her (aka, she would lose a part of her magical power).
# Mombi and the Bug, who are in the City of Jewels, meet all the other characters, and the Regent threatens Mombi with a public execution if she does not restore Ozma (and Mombi thinks the Regent is a fool for trying to give up his job, visibly not understanding why someone would not want to be king). Hopefully for the Witch the Army of Revolt marches on the City, with their banner âGive us Victory, or Give us Fudge!â. The Regent tries to talk the girls out of the war, to no avail, and so there is a battle andâŚ
⌠You remember how in the novel the victory of the Army of Revolt was mostly humoristic? Yeah? In this musical⌠THE ARMY BURNS DOWN THE CITY OF JEWELS! BURN BABY BURN! And they take as prisonners the Regent, the Woggle-Bug (who decided to abandon the army and thus was deemed a traitor), Tip and Jack.
Note however that they donât destroy the city, since the rest of the play takes place in the royal palace, like in the book.
# We get to see the spoiled and ridiculous behavior of the Army of Revolt once their conquered the City and it is a bit different than in the book: here they spend their days chewing gum, playing games (which always end up with them fighting for real since they are sore losers and cheaters), they choose whatever house they like in the city to be their own (and if they forget which one they chose, in the case of Prissy, they just get another one randomly), and they also bathe in champagne. As in the book, all the men are forced to do cleaning duties and taking care of babies.
# The Regent, who has been enslaved by the Army, has attracted the eye of Jinjur, who wants to marry him â but the Regent, whose main wish is to live a peaceful retirement in the countryside, refuses to marry Jinjur⌠unless she becomes a milkmaid. Jinjur of course is not going to do so, so she decides to just lock him up in a room until he agrees to marry her.
# The tensions between Mombi and Jinjur explode as soon as after the victory: Mombi wants Tip and Jack, she claims that Jinjurâs victory was due to her, and she even calls Jinjur her âslaveâ. Jinjur of course rebels, but Mombi threatens to turn Tip back into Ozma and make Jinjur lose her throne â so Jinjur plays on Mombiâs great vanity (calling her âbeautifulâ and all sorts of lovely names) to convince her to actually destroy Tip, Jack, and the Woggle-Bug too. Mombi refuses to kill Tip at first, but Jinjur ultimately convinces her to do so. Though her âconvincingâ isnât maybe so great â when later Mombi sees Jack, she promises not to destroy him if he becomes her servant and obeys her every orders. Mombi also promises Jinjur to cook for her a love-potion they will give to the Regent.
# When Jinjur brings in her prisoners, we finally have back the âpetrificationâ episode of the book: to prevent Tip from ever becoming back Ozma, she will turn him into a marble statue ; she also says she plans to kill Jack to make a pumpkin pie out of him the whole Army of Revolt will eat. As for the Bug⌠WARNING RACISM ARRIVES, but for the Bug Mombi calls âAunt Dinahâ (a mammy character, on top of that played by a man) and asks her (as she is the cook of the army) to prepare the Bug on toasts, âNewberg styleâ. Fun fact â the dress subplot continues! Because this time, it is Aunt Dinah who wears the checkered dress (how come the same dress is worn by three different people? I DONâT KNOW) and so the Woggle-Bug tries to seduce her ; but the Aunt, thinking he is a lobster, rejects him (because she is⌠lobster-phobe apparently).
# This fun subplot also mixes with another subplot: Professor Knowitt and Prissy (the captain of the Awkard Squad) fell in love, and want to marry. One of their lovey-dovey scenes is interrupted by the Woggle-Bug, who is lamenting the fact he is heartbroken and will never be able to be with the love of his life â and he tells them his story. Prissy wants the Professor to squash the Bug, but he refuses. The Professor proposes to save the Bugâs life from the cookâs kitchen by shrinking him back, but the Bug refuses. Ultimately Prissy, to have the Bug leave them alone, suggests that he cuts a piece of the dress and wears it close to his heart, so that like that he might be with his âbelovedâ at all times.
# Here we have the Gump episode â that Tip, Jack and the Bug build to escape. Mombi sees that and tries to order those around her to hunt them down, but neither Jinjur nor Prissy nor the Professor follow her orders. So she decides to take matters in her own hands⌠she does incantations around a cauldron, she invokes a bunch of other witches for a dance, and there is also another dance of black cats this time. This whole thing casts a spell, which at first breaks a storm upon the group, then creates a field of gigantic chrysanthemums with the faces of the Army of Revolt, a field that moves to block the way wherever the heroes go (a clear re-invention of the sunflower field episode from the book). And, strangely, this time it is the Woggle-Bug that saves the day by⌠revealing that his father was a wizard and invoking a flood to wash the flowers away.
This play is bonkers I tell you. Completely crazy.
# Now, there is no Glinda here in this play. Rather we have another witch of Baumâs works, âMaetta the Sorceressâ. (Maetta is a Glinda equivalent Baum wrote for his book âThe Magical Monarchy of Moâ, and he already used Maetta as a replacement for Glinda in some versions of the first extravaganza). Interestingly, Maettaâs palace seems to have electricity to light it up? Maetta welcomes the travelers (her talismans warned her beforehand that strangers were about to arrive). After hearing all of that she has her favorite page, a boy named Athos, send a group of fairies to summon here Jinjur, Mombi, Prissy and Knowitt. There, Maetta plays âthe Wizard of Ozâ, as in she asks everyone what they want: Tip wants to become Ozma again, Jack wants his head not to rot, and the Woggle-Bug wants the dress he is in love with. Suddenly the Regent barges in the palace: he escaped the City of Jewels by riding on the Sawhorse (which then tried to kill him when he offended it, it is a long story).
Mombi is punished by Maetta by being cast in a dungeon, and she is dragged away as she throws insults at everyone. Jinjur appears before Maetta dressed as a simple milkmaid, because this is what Maetta condemns her to be as she dismantles her armies. The Regent, seeing Jinjur as a milkmaid, falls in love with her, and the two former rulers agree to get married. Interestingly, here it is Maetta herself that turns back Tip into Ozma by singing a magic song while he rests on her lap â and Ozma proceeds to name Jack Pumpkinhead her Prime Minister (yeah, nominates the idiot who canât understand simple things as a Prime Minister⌠it makes sense). Prissy is also here, wearing the famous dress, but also a coat covered in military medals (it was a running joke that Jinjur gave medals to her girls for nothing and everything). Maetta takes away those medals and orders Prissy to return to being a simple milkmaid, and when the Professor and Prissy reveal they are about to get married, Maetta sets them free because apparently they are a punishment enough for each other.
But before Prissy leaves the âromantic dressâ subplot is solved by⌠the Bug tried to rip the dress away, the annoyed girl ripping the skirt herself and throwing it at the Bugâs face, and then the bug wearing the skirt as a vast under his coat.
Oh yes, and to solve Jackâs wish, a servant of Maetta puts a big tin can over his head and labels it âCanned Pumpkinâ. So it canât rot. Get it?
And here is "The Woggle-Bug", the 1905 play following "The Wizard of Oz" extravaganza.
This play, contrary to the first musical, was a disaster. Critics did not like it, audiences did not like it... a disaster. A failure. It basically killed all dreams and projects of future Oz plays. Mind you, Baum did another musical adaptation of his Oz work on stage... but it was also a failure. More on that later.
On top of the already convoluted and crazy plot (oh yeah I forgot another element of the "Woggle-Bug is actually a wizard" subplot is that at one point he conjures up Sawhorses for all the main characters in the play to dance with... yeah) ; critics of the time mentionned that the play felt too "simple", as in it was truly a children story, in the sense adult audiences would not (and did not) enjoy it. It was too childish.
Plus the special effects weren't apparently really great? Notably at one point there is a literal "rain of cats and dogs", and one critic remembered this moment as looking like animal corpses were thrown down... So yeah, big failure.
BUT the whole subplot of the Woggle-Bug falling in love with a dress has stayed pretty well known in the Baum "fandom", and is now often mentionned in modern Oz adaptations as an inside joke or clever reference ("the incident with the dress" as Oz fans call it).
