Talk:The Wizard of Oz (1902 musical)
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August 2017
editI reverted all these changes, since they were unreferenced and look dubious. If the anonymous editor who made the changes can support them with citations to authoritative sources, please do so here so that we can evaluate them. -- Ssilvers (talk) 19:25, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
June 16, 2020
editThe Music section at the end of the article is mostly comprised of lists which do not provide much context. I plan to REPLACE these lists with a large searchable table that provides information on where in the show the music was used, lyricist/composer, character(s) that sang it, date range, and references. This will make it easier to update with additional information as found. Below is a sample. If you have any concerns, let me know by the end of June.
| Index | Act | Title | Lyricist | Composer | Character | Dates | Notes | Sheet Music Publisher/Date | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08 | 1 | Niccolo's Piccolo | L. Frank Baum; Glen MacDonough | Paul Tietjens; A. Baldwin Sloane | Cynthia | 1902 - 1906+ | [Publisher?] (1902) | 1902 Program, 1903 Script, Swartz | |
| 09.1 | 1 | In Michigan | Glen MacDonough | A. Baldwin Sloane | Pastoria; Chorus | 1902 - 1904 | Replaced for the Mar 1904 Edition De Luxe | 1902 Program, 1903 Script, Swartz | |
| 09.2 | 1 | The Tale of a Cassowary | Will D. Cobb | Gus Edwards | Cynthia | 1904 - 1905 | Added for the Mar 1904 Edition De Luxe. Replaced for the 1905 touring season | Shapiro, Remick, and Co. (1904) | Swartz |
A question regarding the usage of the songs.
editWhy did the musical feature some songs with lyrics that had nothing to do with the Wizard of Oz? Take Must You? (sung by the Tin Man) for example. The lyrics regard an unhappy marriage of a man and his overbearing wife "Matilda Jane". There is no mention of anyone named "Matilda Jane" in any part of the original book or play, apart from that song (I looked it up). If it was like Mr. Dooley and was sung as a regular British music hall song in some unknown production where the lyrics had relevance to the plot (since the composers were British and wrote music hall songs), that would make at least a little more sense. But it still begs the question, why did this (and possibly other musicals) have songs lyrically unrelated to the story? I presume that it being an extravaganza and an extravaganza being categorized by freedom of style, that could mean that songs with lyrics unrelated to the source material being used was freedom of style.
For some context for Must You? (sourced from the link above), Bert Brantford (real name Albert Comerford) (1879 - 1973) and Harry Boden (birth and death date unknown) were British music hall songwriters, and most often wrote music hall songs sung by Bert's older brother, Harry Ford (real name Harry Comerford) (1874 - 1955).
Here is also one more interesting thing regarding Must You? which might give a clue as to its true origin. This annual for the publishing company Reeder & Walsh lists Must You? as one of the songs sung by Harry Ford (Bert Brantford's brother), as well as other songs also written by Brantford and Boden including a song named What a silly I must have been which sounds similar to the opening line of Must You? ("I must have been a silly sort of josh")
Sorry for the wall of text (I am genuinely very interested in the matter), but can anybody provide a clear answer as to why this is, as well as lyrically unrelated songs that were apparently written specifically for the musical? Many thanks. Regards, A Clockwork Potato (talk) 06:25, 25 February 2023 (UTC)