Click Your Heels

by ROBBY DOUTHITT & r & & r & & lt;span class= "dropcap " & I & lt;/span & n real life, clicking your heels together with your eyes closed while muttering "there's no place like home" may not teleport you back to "where the heart is." But it just might win you first prize at the Judy Garland impersonation contest at Saturday's Garland Street Fair. (Toto look-alikes are also welcome.)





The sixth annual fair will have a Wizard of Oz theme this year while featuring food, live music and entertainment, arts and crafts and a variety of other activities for all ages. Anything with four legs that vaguely resembles Toto can be a contestant at 1 pm. (Last year, a Rottweiler nearly took home the prize.) Sue Bradley, a director for the festival and owner of Tinman Art Gallery, is hoping somebody will go for the win this year with an iguana.





The Judy Garland impersonations will begin at 5 pm. While all contestants will have to belt out their best renditions of "Over the Rainbow," they won't necessarily have to dress up as Dorothy. Last year, says Bradley, one of the better singers dressed as Garland during her drugged-out years. (She may not exactly have been playing to the family-oriented theme of the festival, but nobody can deny her creativity.)





If you don't have a four-legged pet and can't carry a tune, then show up in a Tin Man costume or get your face painted to resemble the Cowardly Lion. Test your Oz skills at the "Over the Rainbow Emerald Toss," the "Tornado Basketball Shoot" or "Munchkin Pond Fishing." See local indie bands like Lafayette or Le Hot Club of Spokane, a New Orleans-style Gypsy-jazz ensemble. You can check out any one of the five hourly improv performances at the Blue Door and of course see showings of The Wizard of Oz throughout the day at the Garland Theater.





This year, Bradley says, she expects 10,000 people to attend the event, making its numbers comparable to Spokane's Artfest.





Garland Street Fair (between Monroe and Howard) on Saturday, Aug. 16, from 10 am-8 pm. Free admission; prices vary for activities. Visit www.garlanddistrict.com.





OZ TRIVIA:


& lt;ul &


& lt;li & The original novel by L. Frank Baum is much more violent than the movie. The Tin Woodsman cuts the heads off beasts with his axe, and the Wizard sends Dorothy to actually kill the Wicked Witch of the West & lt;/li &


& lt;li & Judy Garland wanted to adopt Toto after the film, but the owner wouldn't relinquish the dog -- which starred in five more films & lt;/li &


& lt;li & Buddy Ebsen (later of The Beverly Hillbillies) had an allergic reaction to the Tin Man's makeup and had to be replaced. His voice is still heard on "Off To See the Wizard" & lt;/li &


& lt;li & According to lead Munchkin Jerry Maren, the "little people" on the set were paid $50 per week for a six-day work week, while Toto received $125 per week & lt;/li &


& lt;li & Most of the Wicked Witch of the West's scenes were either trimmed or deleted because Margaret Hamilton's performance was too scary & lt;/li &


& lt;li & Judy Garland wore a corset-like device so she would look younger and flat-chested & lt;/li &


& lt;li & The film had a total of five directors & lt;/li &


& lt;/ul &