Little Gerald in the Land of Oz
My older sister brought me to see The Wizard of Oz for the first time in August 1949, during its 10th-anniversary run at Loew's State Theatre, now the Providence Performing Arts Center where the Broadway musical Wicked, inspired by the same Frank Baum book, is playing. The matinée admission was 60¢ until 5 PM, children 35¢ at all times. Before the movie we saw a live stage performance by singer Frankie Laine that included his hit "Mule Train." Also performing were Artie Dann, Four Step Brothers, The Four Macks, and Connie Haines. The Journal ad said "Loew's State Brings You the Gayest Stage & Screen Combination Show!" Hmmm!
I remember the theatre as being crowded and enormously exciting. We sat near the front. The movie was one of the first I had ever seen and I fell in love with it and with the palatial theatre itself. It is one of my most vivid childhood memories. I was seven. I was enchanted. Dorothy's song "Over the Rainbow," sung by Judy Garland, remains a favorite and stirs the imagination. For weeks I would recite lines and play-act scenes remembered from the film. I especially liked the Wicked Witch of the West and would run around the house atop a broom shouting, "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!"
I wanted so much to be like Dorothy, to drift off into the strange magical dreamland in a flying house, socialize with Munchkins, and walk down a yellow brick road toward Emerald City with a scaredy-cat lion, a mentally-challenged scarecrow and an oxidizing tin man. I think I still do.
"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Rhode Island any more."
