What’s New
And it’s a biggee!! The Oz-Stravaganza in Chittenango, New York on June 2, 3, 4, 2023! So exciting! Craig and I are going to the oldest and largest Oz festival in the country which also happens to be where L. Frank Baum, who wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was born.
We’re going to have such fun! I get to teach a special hula I’ve choreographed just for the festival. I’ve had a Munchkin costume made for the festivities because I’ve grown and my original costume would no longer fit, even if I still had it!
This little town in upstate New York is the source of all the magic and wonderfulness of Oz and all its characters. If you can possibly get there, please do. There will be a costume contest and dancing down the town’s yellow brick road. John Fricke, preeminent Oz afficionado, devotee and author will be there to emcee the weekend’s programs, the Oz bazaar will be going full-swing, and the local Oz museum has things you can’t see anywhere else in the world! Copies of my book, The Munchkin Diary, and pictures of me with Judy Garland will be available – and if you want, I’ll be happy to sign them. For the low-down on what promises to be an outstanding weekend, check out their website - www.oz-stravaganza.com - and especially John Fricke’s blog which is so well written and contains some really interesting revelations about how Hollywood met the challenge of making Baum’s beloved book into the most beloved movie on the planet.
To Tell the Truth
See that? It’s the TV listing for ABC on April 26 this year and says To Tell The Truth will feature “ a Munchkin from The Wizard of Oz!” That’s me! After 11 months of not being able to talk about it to anybody except ourselves, the story of our secret trip to Hollywood was coming out. My appearance on a national TV show was going to be on the air – FINALLY!!
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To Tell The Truth!!! When a producer from this venerable network game show called, introduced herself and asked to speak to me, Craig handed me the phone, and whispered, “Be careful! This is probably a scam!” So the first thing she said to me was, “No, this is not a scam. It’s the real thing, and I’m calling to invite you to be our guest on To Tell The Truth because you were a Munchkin in the Wizard of Oz.” That was in March of 2021 and she was telling the truth!
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On May 26, 2021, after a morning of make-up, wardrobe, and coaching with the two actors who were the ‘imposters,’ the intro music came up and host Anthony Anderson asked us to introduce ourselves. As instructed, each of us said impassively, “I was a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz.” I’m the contestant on the right. Honest!
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The celebrity panel peppered us with questions about how and why we had been chosen to be a child Munchkin and what other movies we had been in. They thought they had us when they asked how old we were and we all said we were 89. I knew it was game over when the panel insisted I couldn’t be 89 and one of them, Iliza Shlesinger, said “If she’s 89, we’re all 89!!”
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When the time for questioning was up, Anthony Anderson called for the “Real Munchkin to please stand.” The three of us bounced up and down from our chairs a couple of times just like the coaches told us to, and then the two “imposters” stayed in their chairs and I remained standing. The celebrity panel roared with disbelief and we all had a good laugh. It was so much fun stumping the panel on the “age” issue. You gotta admit, that was pretty cool! Made my day!!
Where Are They Now
WCPT 820 Radio — Chicago — May 14, 2022
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On Saturday morning May 14 in Chicago Art Andros and Bobby Drel put on shirts printed with a Wizard of Oz scene, hung Hawaiian leis around their necks and a minute later introduced me on their radio show “Where Are They Now.” What sparked their interest was my having been a Munchkin, but they had bought my book and asked questions about the rest of my life! The hour just flew by!
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People could “watch” the radio program on Facebook, but I couldn’t see them on the phone in my Hawaiian room. If, however, they could wear special shirts, so could I! One of my favorites is a sweatshirt from the time I went to Chicago for a week to hear the Lyric Opera do Wagner’s spectacular Ring Cycle. It isn’t Munchkiny or Hawaiian, but it’s comfy and Chicago-ish, but no one could see me – I was on radio!
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I really appreciated their preparation for the show; they asked about my book, The Munchkin Diary, and everything in it. They wanted to know about Hula Mai and the shows we were doing that week. They asked about my years at Channel 2. They asked how people could get my book, and then they asked if there was anything else I wanted to mention!! I mean, really – wadda showcase!! THEN, as a thank-you for being on their show, they sent me a copy of the first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. How sweet can things get?
Hula Mai
Still dancing – just not on the Yellow Brick Road! Hula Mai means “Come here and dance” and that pretty much says it; that’s what we do – hula. It began in 2009 at Vintage House here in Sonoma. I just wanted to have a little workshop so I could meet other hula dancers in the Valley. I wasn’t planning on a life-changing retirement career, but that’s what I got. That little weekend workshop quickly became a full-blown performing arts company that puts on shows all over the North Bay. The full story is in my book, The Munchkin Diary. This picture is from our annual ‘gift of aloha’ to this community in 2019 in Sonoma Plaza’s Grinstead Amphitheater.
Click on the arrows at the sides of the screen to scroll through a few pictures of Hula Mai in action. We picked these from the thousands of pictures Craig has shot over the years to give you an idea of our range of hulas, costumes, and venues.
Hula is appropriate for so many different settings: obviously the big outdoor dance concerts, on stages in community centers, patios and living rooms at private homes or residential facilities. Until the Covid shutdown, we danced every month at our local hospital. We dance for organizations and agencies as well as for individuals, for birthdays and holidays, for anniversaries and celebrations of life, for people just arriving or for people about to leave.
Actually, we dance for no other reason except the sheer pleasure and joy of it. That’s Hula Mai. There are more pictures and more details in my book, The Munchkin Diary, because the hula is how I came to peace about who I am. It continues to be a wonderful journey and I hope you will enjoy sharing it with me.
Our slogan is: Hula makes you happy.