Cynical News '03

CAMPY 'WIZARD OF OZ' RAMPAGE FOILED AT LAST MINUTE

UPI Photo: Bruce Matthias (far left) was the black-clad alleged ringleader of the 'Lollipop Guild' stopped moments before their 'WOZ Campage'

TOPEKA, KANSAS - Four teenagers with a fixation on the perennial classic film 'The Wizard of Oz' have been arrested with an arsenal of props, that police say they were about to use to 'dazzle and delight' "as many people as possible."

Police have revealed they were captured wearing an all black wicked witch costume, a 'tin man' costume and even a pink fairie costume like their heroes in the 1939 MGM musical which has delighted generations. A motorist they tried to hijack said: "These guys were ready to make spectacles of themselves."

The four, reportedly members of the Lehigh Drama Club, aged 18, 15 and 14 and 16, had been planning to carry out multiple musical numbers including 'Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead' and 'We're Off to See the Wizard' in and around the midtown area since early this year, according to Topeka police chief David T. Royce.

Bruce Matthias, 18, was among those arrested. The others were not named. Police say. Matthias imagined an almost supernatural aura around himself, sometimes referring to himself as "The Wicked Witch... of the West".

Police say the 'Lollipop Guild', as they have come to be known, were planning to randomly perform and 'camp it up' in the streets, but that the plot was uncovered as the they set out armed with oil cans, broomsticks, picnic baskets, wands, and whatnot.

Topeka police chief Royce said the four were about to start the non-Halloween scheduled displays on the day Buddy Ebsen died. Ebsen, as any fan, or fanatic, of the film knows, was orginally slated to play 'The Tin Man' before a reaction with the greasepaint necessary to play the role landed the part in the lap of Jack Haley. Police discovered in a plan known as 'Helter Dorothy' the group wanted to ignite a 'camp war' with a similar group across town that apparently likes the movie 'Sunset Boulevard'.

"Yeah they kind of had that 'OZ' thing going on," Dickie Steemans, 16, of Topeka said of the suspects. "They would wear black witches costumes and silver facepaint and slick their hair back. They would even watch the HBO series OZ even though what that had to do with the movie I don't know. They even were into Australian films! I mean, they were NUTS!"

Royce said, "These individuals were planning on skipping around and singing and dancing with some ho ho ho's and some tee-hee-hee's and a couple of tra-la-la's to as many people as possible in a short time and creating widespread embarassment," he said. All three have been charged with attempted camp, intention to disturb the peace, poor taste, attempted carjacking and weapons offences including carrying a concealed wand.

Matthias, who is accused of waving the business end of a broom (albeit unlit) and saying "how bout a little FIRE scarecrow?" to the officer who arrested him, was also charged with aggravated assault. Prosecutor Vince Santinni said the weapon seized belonged to Matthias' father and was legal.

This was the third such movie-related rampage in recent months since Gone with the Wind fanatics tried to torch Atlanta last Spring.