Whaaaaat? There was supposed to be *more* Beecher in drag?!

This morning I was skimming through the shiny, updated Great Big Oz Resource List, when I noticed a link for an old fansite for Dean Winters. I decided to check it out and stumbled across several archived articles about Dean and Oz that had been written back when the show originally aired. I started reading this 2000 article about the show from the Indianapolis Star, and my jaw about hit the floor when I read the following passage:

[Rita] Moreno tells what she calls a "delicious" story about Fontana calling her with an idea about how to stage the prison riot that ended Oz's first season. She said Fontana wanted to put on West Side Story with Beecher in drag as Anita. The simulated violence in the play would turn real, and the riot would be on.

Unfortunately, Moreno says with a laugh, the rights to the play were unavailable.

OHMYGOD! How awesome would that have been?! And so completely bizarre! It would've been like Cop Rock!!!

And I just can't help but laugh at the fact that Tom has this apparently uncontrollable desire to put Lee in drag. Third time's a charm?

I don't even know why, but I love this idea so damn much. (Actually, that's a lie -- I know EXACTLY why I love this idea so much.) What a shame it didn't happen!

(Random Fun Fact: Did you know that Lee once said that his guilty pleasure was watching Rupaul's Drag Race?)