Miss Gulch Returns!

Miss Gulch Returns! is a one-man musical comedy written and originally performed by Fred Barton. It is loosely based on the character of Almira Gulch from the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz as portrayed by Margaret Hamilton. Although the script alludes to the character of the Wicked Witch of the West (also portrayed by Hamilton in the film) it focuses primarily on Gulch.

Plot

After a brief introduction Barton encounters Almira Gulch drinking in a cabaret bar and is so fascinated by her that he adopts her personality for the evening ("You're The Woman I'd Wanna Be").

As described in the cast recording's liner notes Almira is an "embittered also-ran." The show satirizes the cult status of Judy Garland within the gay community. Almira complains that her big musical number ("I'm A Bitch") was cut from the final version of The Wizard of Oz, while Garland was allowed to perform "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". She reveals a lonely, unhappy childhood ("Born On A Bike"). Following the deaths of her parents she begins drinking heavily, but bemoans the fact that liquor cannot take the place of a man ("Pour Me A Man").