FALL INTO OZ

Over the years I’ve mentioned my love for The Wizard of Oz many times, and I just discovered yet another fabulous way to enjoy the fantasy tale! It’s a really fun live-action, interactive, walk-through experience called Fall Into Oz. And that’s just what my friend Roz and I did this weekend. I recommend it for everyone who possesses even a tiny bit of whimsy. For children especially. (Sorry to the rest of my readers around the world, but it’s only here in LA.)

I love unique entertainments, and this is exactly that! Fall Into Oz is the first of its kind, and The Wizard of Oz is the perfect tale for this very different event from Heart to Art Productions.

The extremely interesting location is “The Secret Rose Garden,” which is a spot-on description of this property in Woodland Hills. The entire experience, from entrance to exit, takes about seventy-five minutes. I loved it all, from meeting the lovely guys who checked us in to doing a little wrap-up with them on the way out. (You don’t have to do that last part, but you know me—always the reviewer.)

So here’s how the very easy morning or afternoon goes from the start: There’s tons of street parking, and then you check-in and receive your uber-detailed program. If you’ve purchased the “Wizard Pass,” you get a little organza pouch in which to collect special goodies along the way, including a token that you can use to purchase a snack or something in the gift shop. I used mine to get a cute silver stretch bracelet! (Fall Into Oz is so affordable that I recommend doing that for the kiddos. But I suggest asking the ticket people exactly what the differences in admission price entail.) Then you sit on little tuffets in the shade until it’s your party’s turn, and someone leads you down to the start of the “show.”

All of a sudden, Dorothy appears and implores the group to get into the house because the tornado is coming! (That’s the only time you’re inside—the rest is all outdoors.) And the real fun begins. As we go along the way with her, we meet all the usual suspects in the story—witches, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, Gatekeeper, and, of course, the Wizard. It is not the exact same tale as the classic film, (for example, there are no munchkins, and Dorothy just meets her trio of pals as we go along the Yellow Brick Road; they don’t come with us to see Oz, most likely because that would get way too crowded in this space,) but it’s all adorable.

The guests totally assist Dorothy as they go, and do some fun, short activities, like solving a puzzle, figuring out directions, and helping a witch with a recipe! It’s all such fun, for children and grown-ups alike. (Since I’m a combo of both, and was once in a circus, which the Lion is in this telling, it was extra fun for me!) And nothing is scary, so even the littlest children will love it all. The only problem is this could spoil all other theatre shows for kids when they have to sit in their seats instead of participating!

The entire cast we saw, (there are multiple ones,) was wonderful. But I must especially laud our Dorothy, Hannah Campbell, for never breaking character. (Roz said she was “perfect, and really glued into her character.”) At one point, we guests colored on pre-made sheets, but I noticed that Dorothy was creating her own drawing on blank paper. That’s what I wanted to do, so I could draw my signature little house. But I went along with the program and colored-in a printed princess picture. But when we then showed off our work, Dorothy had drawn…the same house that I always do!!! So, of course, I had to show her one of my creations, a snapshot of which I just happened to have handy, (because I’ve proudly displayed it in this e-zine before,) and instead of the “Oh my gosh, what an incredible coincidence,” that I expected, she innocently asked, as Dorothy, “Is that your house?,” as she would of a little girl. I loved that. (And, it actually is my house! In my imagination, that is.)

And by the way, not to brag about my psychic powers, but before the crayons and coloring pages came out, Dorothy and the Tin Man asked us to each name one thing we loved, (to demonstrate that we all have hearts, as he does not.) I went last, and thought of saying “food” or “my late dog,” but instead declared, “Crayons,” which I really do adore. And then it turned-out that our activity in that scene was coloring!!! I amazed even myself with that one!

I have to say that, because the producers make Fall Into Oz so easy for us, we might think it’s a simple thing to do, but it’s really quite the production. I always appreciate how much work goes into something like this. I can’t even imagine creating it, coming up with how to do it, staging it on this extraordinary property, (which you must take a few moments to admire, outside of all the theatrical creativity,) casting it, and making it all work so smoothly. It actually boggles the mind.

There can be up to a dozen guests at each “showing,” (which are at half hour intervals during the day on Saturdays and Sundays.) My group consisted of a quartet of us grown-ups, (although neither Roz nor I would classify ourselves as such,) and two adorable kids—a seven-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy, (who was so into his bag of goodies that he would not let it out of his sight!) And I think that we adults loved it even more than the kids did!!!

This is how much I enjoyed it—I’m medically prone to heatstroke, (which I found-out when I was playing in a celebrity softball game in the valley for Health Magazine when I was doing my TV show, and…the organizers sent me to the hospital because I had turned purple in the heat!,) so I rarely even leave the house if the temperature goes above 80 degrees. And it was 100 degrees the day I went to Fall Into Oz! But I made it through pretty easily, most likely because I was having such a good time! (There is actually a lot of shade there, and they kindly gave me ice from time to time.)

So, when you go, please wear light clothing and a cap or sunhat, closed-toe shoes, (such as sneakers,) and sunscreen, and bring a bottle of water, (or just buy one there—they have a couple of beverage and snacks stations.) Even if you’re there when the weather turns cooler, please still wear closed-toe shoes, not ruby slippers! (After all, you do not want to look like very unsteady Madonna trying to walk in heels at the recent MTV Video Music Awards!)

Fall Into Oz is the perfect activity for Halloween month, (which begins in two days!) You can even dress-up as a Wizard of Oz character, if you like. (Just leave the real-life Totos at home, please.)

Now go and make your own memories there this weekend! You will love it!

Fall Into Oz running through October 25, 2026
A Secret Rose Garden
23444 Oxnard St., Woodland Hills
www.hearttoartproductions.org