Solo play explores L. Frank Baum’s path to Oz at Moroni Opera House

MORONI — A one-man play centered on the life of L. Frank Baum, author of “The Wizard of Oz,” will be performed this week at the Moroni Opera House.

Dr. John Newman, a professor of theater at Utah Valley University, will present the one-man show title, “The Man Behind the Curtain,” beginning at 7 p.m. at the historic opera house, 325 W. Main St. Admission is free. The performance runs less than an hour and is intended for family audiences.

The play is set on New Year’s Eve in 1908, when Newman, in the role of Baum, addresses an audience after learning that one of his theatrical productions has been canceled because of high production costs.

With no show to present, Baum instead tells the story of how he turned personal fears and repeated failures into what became one of America’s best-known children’s stories.

In the play, Baum reflects on a series of professions he pursued before finding success as a children’s author, including work as an actor, director, shop owner, baseball team manager, newspaper editor, reporter and traveling salesman. The narrative traces how those experiences shaped his storytelling and contributed to the creation of Oz.

The production also references Baum’s interactions with prominent historical figures, including author Charles Dickens, inventor Thomas Edison, and women’s rights advocate Matilda Joslyn Gage, who was his mother-in-law.

Newman, the performer, earned a doctorate in educational theater from New York University and has been a professor at UVU since 2010, where he directs the university’s Theatre for Youth and Education Center.

He previously taught and directed theatre at Highland High School in Salt Lake City and has adapted several novels by Newbery Medal-winning authors for the stage.

“The Man Behind the Curtain” was developed and premiered during Newman’s residency at the Open Eye Theater in Margaretville, New York in 2016. Newman has since performed the play in libraries, schools, museums and festivals in multiple states across the country.