With summer swiftly coming to a close, the fall is already starting to look like a busy month for events in New York: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week starts on Thursday, September 10, and MTV's Video Music Awards hit Radio City Music Hall Sunday, September 13. New to the lineup is a series of promotional stunts and events from Warner Brothers Consumer Products for the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, the culmination of a yearlong string of celebrations across the country.
The kickoff, and the biggest party on the Oz schedule, will be the Emerald Gala, complete with a yellow brick road, performances by Ashanti and Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, and appearances by five of the original Munchkins from the 1939 film as well as cast members from the recent stage production of The Wizard of Oz. To be held at Tavern on the Green—currently operated by Jennifer LeRoy, granddaughter of the movie's producer Mervyn LeRoy—the September 24 event will also be the final showcase of the Ruby Slipper collection, which will be auctioned off to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. (The collection debuted during Fashion Week in September 2008 and consists of 20 items inspired by Dorothy's famous red shoes and designed by the likes of Abaeté, Christian Louboutin, and Manolo Blahnik.)
Promotions will also include the arrival of the Wizard of Oz-branded hot air balloon, which has already toured the country, and a September 26 screening at Alice Tully Hall as part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center's New York Film Festival.
