Minnesota Public Radio Presents "Scarecrow on Fire: The Lost Notebooks of Oz" Nov. 26-28 at The Fitzgerald Theater

Oct 5, 2010

Playwright Kevin Kling fleshes out the beloved straw man in a story for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend

WHAT: Minnesota Public Radio presents a special Thanksgiving weekend with humorist and playwright Kevin Kling. He will portray the Scarecrow of Oz in Scarecrow on Fire. Picking up where the classic tale left off, the story joins Dorothy on a journey with her dearest friends from Oz. This winsome production reunites the trilogy of Brains, Heart and Courage with theatrics, music, and silent-era Oz film footage.

Commissioned by Minnesota Public Radio for The Fitzgerald Theater's Centennial Season, Scarecrow on Fire is directed by Peter Rothstein (The Guthrie's M Butterfly); the cast includes Guthrie actor Stephen Yoakum and Simone Perrin. The music will be a mix of rural, rock and a twist of Oz nostalgia, with music director Dan Chouinard and an ensemble that includes cellist Michelle Kenny and the House of Mercy band.

In a nod to the Lollipop Guild, free suckers will available for kids. Scarecrow on Fire is suitable for children ages 8 and older.

This event is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

More about Oz in books and film: Author Frank Baum created a prolific series of books in the early 1900s that introduced the world to Oz. The success of the books inspired a whole series of silent films created into the 1920s that contain rich images and demonstrate the great imagination of the time. Scarecrow on Fire will use the silent era Oz images to enrich Kling's storytelling.

WHEN: Fri.-Sat., Nov. 26-27, 8 p.m. Sun., Nov. 28, 2 p.m.

WHERE: Minnesota Public Radio's The Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul

TICKETS: $25. MPR members receive a discount. Contact the Fitzgerald Theater box office, 651-290-1200, fitzgeraldtheater.org.

TUNE IN: Scarecrow on Fire will be recorded for broadcast on MPR News, date tbd.