Admirers of folk singer Woody Guthrie say the opening of a center chronicling his storied life and career is long overdue in his native state of Oklahoma. The 12,000-square-foot Woody Guthrie Center opens this afternoon in Tulsa. It features Oklahoma’s only permanent exhibit on the Dust Bowl and also includes Guthrie’s original handwritten copy of “This Land Is Your Land,” perhaps his best-known song. Guthrie’s daughter Nora said Oklahomans should take pride in knowing that the core of who her father was as a man and a musician was determined in Oklahoma. The center also is home to the Woody Guthrie Archives, a collection featuring nearly 3,000 song lyrics, hundreds of pieces of artwork, journal entries, postcards, manuscripts and more than 500 photographs, among other rare items.
Britain’s young royals had a magical day out Friday with a visit to the studio where the Harry Potter movies were filmed. Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry toured Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden near London, home to “The Making of Harry Potter” studio tour. The royals, accompanied by 500 children and adults from charities they support, had a wand lesson, visited the Great Hall of Hogwarts School and saw props, costumes and models from the Potter series in the company of the boy wizard’s creator, author J.K. Rowling. William also seemed taken with props from director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. “I’m a very happy man,” he joked after exploring the Batmobile and sitting astride the Batpod motorcycle. In a speech to Warner Bros. executives, 30-year-old William said he was “over the moon just to have seen the real Batmobile and Batpod.” “On the other hand, Harry’s just excited to see a real-life talking owl in the Harry Potter studios,” William said of his 28-year-old brother. “I haven’t told him yet that Harry Potter is fictional, so please keep the secret for a little longer?” Friday is the official opening of Warner Bros.’ Leavesden Studios, a former World War II airdrome 20 miles northwest of London. Warner Bros. has spent $155 million redeveloping the facility, where the eight Potter films were shot, into Europe’s largest filmmaking complex. It was recently used for the coming Tom Cruise science-fiction film All You Need is Kill.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 04/27/2013