Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

The Movies: 'Oz' at the State, wicked cool

You can see 'The Wizard of Oz' on the big screen at the State Theatre's 1930s Night.

By Avery Yale Kamila akamila@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

It's been more than 70 years since "The Wizard of Oz" screened for the first time in theaters. Since then, most viewers have only seen it on a television screen via a network broadcast or on home video.

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1930S NIGHT AT THE STATE

WHEN: 5 p.m. Friday, with “The Wizard of Oz” screening at 7 and 10 p.m.

WHERE: State Theatre, 609 Congress St., Portland

HOW MUCH: $5. Purchase tickets in advance at Bull Moose Music stores and at the State Theatre box office the night of the show.

INFO: www.statetheatreportland.com

On Friday, you can see the beloved film classic as it was meant to be seen -- on the big screen, in all its sepia-toned and Technicolor glory. And you can do it by stepping back in time to the decade that gave birth to Dorothy and her yellow-brick-road comrades.

With a Depression-era ticket price of $5, the State Theatre in Portland hosts the all-ages 1930s Night beginning at 5 p.m., featuring a performance of early 20th-century vaudeville music by local band Over a Cardboard Sea and two screenings of "The Wizard of Oz." Organizers hope attendees will get in the spirit by dressing in period clothes.

"The reason why we're doing it is to celebrate the history of the theater," said Lauren Wayne, general manager of the newly renovated State Theatre, which reopened in October after laying dormant for several years.

"They did first-run movies until the 1950s, and then it started its history of shutting down and opening back up again," Wayne said.

When ticket holders enter the lobby on Friday, they will be serenaded by Over a Cardboard Sea and have a chance to pose for an old-timey photo.

At 5:30 p.m., the band moves to the stage to perform tunes such as "It's Only a Paper Moon," "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" and "California, Here I Come."

"We're not strictly holding true to the 1930s," said the band's frontman, Timmy Findlen, who sings and plays the ukulele. "We're playing some from the 1920s and teens too."

Joining the band onstage will be puppeteers Lindsay McCaw and Adam Cooke along with their oversized puppets, which will help illustrate the songs.

"The one I'm most excited about is a medley of songs from 'The Wizard of Oz' performed by two manualists in the band," Findlen said. (A form of music created by the hands, manualism is "sometimes known as hand farting," according to Findlen.)

Drummer Dave Burd and his sister Burdiee, who is a vocalist for the band, are also the band's manualists.

At 7 p.m., the first screening of the film begins, and runs for a little more than an hour and a half.

The second "Wizard of Oz" screening takes place at 10 p.m. and enters the trippy world of urban legends by synchronizing the film to Pink Floyd's 1973 rock classic "The Dark Side of the Moon." While the members of Pink Floyd have always denied any connection between the two, fans have long touted an eerie alignment between the film and the album.

"It's really precise what you have to do," Wayne said of the process of synching up the film to the tracks on "The Dark Side of the Moon." "For instance, you have to start after the third roar of the (MGM) lion."

Whether or not you subscribe to the theory that Pink Floyd had Oz on the brain when composing its chart-topping album, the event provides an other-worldly and affordable night of entertainment.

As organizer and owner of vinyl label Eternal Otter Records Will Ethridge said, "It's a great way to get a cheap ticket and check out the theater, hear some great music and watch a great movie."

Staff Writer Avery Yale Kamila can be contacted at 791-6297 or at:

akamila@pressherald.com

Follow her on Twitter at:

Twitter.com/AveryYaleKamila