With Left of Oz, You definitely Know You Aren’t in Kansas Anymore
In the quiet fields of Kansas, dear Dorothy desperately wants to find love – in the arms of a woman! So with Aunt Emma’s blessing and her sidekicks in tow, she steps out on a musical comedy adventure.
Left of Oz follows Dorothy as she comes out to Aunt Emma and goes to San Francisco to seek out womanly love. Dorothy's sidekicks are the hippy chick and the leather butch, and along the way she falls for the soft butch samba teacher. Life is sweet, well, except for the witches and a naughty sorceress.
Of course, there's a good witch and a naughty witch and the sexy Oz dancers. Everything you need for a perfect night of theatre in this full length Broadway-style musical comedy by Stephanie Reif, with choreography by Douglas Caldwell presented by Stephanie's Playhouse.
Aunt Emma is the supportive parent we wish we’d had and encourages Dorothy to follow her dream. Aunt Emma suggests San Francisco. She’d gone to college there, and besides, she knew there were lesbians there. She had seen them on Oprah, and they seemed very nice. 
So Dorothy heads west, by bus. On the way, she meets a tie dye, pot smoking, traveling, Tibetan bowl and yoga enthusiast, Jazmin, who’s also en route to San Francisco. They become unlikely but fast friends.
When they arrive in San Francisco, they meet a soft on the inside, tough on the outside biker butch named Kat, who takes them to a leather bar, Le Club, where Temptressa, the naughty sorceress, tries to lead Dorothy into temptation.
Dorothy moves on to a dance class, where she meets Toni, the teacher. They have instant chemistry and Toni shows her the town. They have coffee at a North Beach café and see a lesbian rock band at The Fillmore. Dorothy falls in love. But the next day, Toni is not at class. She has suddenly left town.
Dorothy is heartbroken. The dancers try to cheer her up but after the fun, Dorothy decides that she wants to be home. To help out, Jazmin plays her Tibetan bowl and calls in Dorothy’s fairy guide mother, Glenda Ellen of Sonoma.
Dorothy is magically transported back to Kansas, where she finds Toni in her own hometown. In the end, not only do Dorothy and Toni find love, but even the naughty Sorceress and Glenda have a happy ending.
The first incarnation of Left of Oz played in 1996 in Petaluma at Four Corners Theater (now called the Polly Hannah Klaas Theater) to delighted audiences. Later revues played at the Hopland Woman’s Music Festival and Benbow Arts Fair in Northern CA.
In that first production, the songs were rewrites of Broadway show tunes. But the new, updated 2010 production will debut all new, all original songs.
Left of Oz – a lesbian Wizard of Oz will play July 2 through the July 18, at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. @ MLK Jr. Way in Berkeley. For tickets, call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com
For more information, visit www.leftofoz.com
