Laurie Riss and Jeanne Felix, both Oregon residents will be performing cello/piano music to two short silent films. Laurie is a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and an independent cello teacher. Jeanne is an independent piano teacher and Director of Music Ministry.The first surviving film of L. Frank Baum’s “TheWonderful Wizard of Oz” was
created in 1910. Squeezed into this short film are young Dorothy and her dog, Toto, in rural Kansas; the cyclone that carries them to the Land of Oz ruled by it’s “humbug” wizard; her
faithful companions the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Woodman; the Good Witch Glinda and a Wicked Witch of the West - dubbed “Momba.” Missing are the book’s munchkins and magic slippers, but added are such comic touches as the unionized women workers of Emerald City. It is also interesting to see in the film the “special effects” that were developed in 1910. “The Scarecrow” (1920) starring Buster Keaton is a light comedy that addresses the public’s fascination with automation (the result of the Ford Motor Company’s assembly line). The film delights with its clever sequence involving surprising time and space-saving devices.