Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#1
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:04pm
... and I want a full-scale revival of the original Geoffrey Holder production, with Andre De Shields reprising his role.
This photo was taken LAST WEEK. That's his original costume from 1975, which he can still wear! (The cape is new, however.)
And I want Dee Dee Bridgewater to reprise her Tony-winning role as Glinda!
The rest can (and should) be a new cast.
That's what I want for Christmas, Santa.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#2
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:10pm
Yes! Yes! And Yes!
This and a revival of DREAMGIRLS I want!
Krystal Joy Brown as Dorothy
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#2
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:14pmIs Anika Noni Rose too old for Dorothy?
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#3
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:16pmI was thinking of her too. She reads young onstage, but she is 41.
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#4
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:16pmAnything would be better than that embarrassingly horrible production at City Center from a few summers ago.
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#5
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:24pmTerri White as Evillene!
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#6
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:26pmIt would be nice to get an actual teenager to play Dorothy. What's next Annaleigh Ashford as Annie?
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#7
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:27pmI think Lillias White as Evillene
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#8
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:28pm
Bring it!
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#9
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:35pm
Have you seen these?
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?filters%5Btitle_uuid_s%5D%5B%5D=The%20wiz.%7C%7Ce026eaf0-c5fd-012f-67a7-58d385a7bc34&keywords=&layout=false
Was Stephanie a teenager when she played the role?
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#10
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:35pmNot a teenager, but Janelle Monae is only 5'0", so she could easily pass for a teen. As long as we're dreaming, how about Usher as the Scarecrow?
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#11
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:35pm
I hate to burst your dream. I saw The Wiz and it was awful. I LOVE the score, but the show itself was just dreadful, and I saw all the original cast. Maybe it was the 70's design of the show but it looked really cheap. Look at the photo of the Munchkins! That's about what it was. And that's all it was. Six munchkins in those horrible costumes.
I would rather see a revival of RAISIN.
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#12
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:37pm
Stephanie Mills was 16 years old in the original production!
Here she is in the (short-lived) '80s revival. Check out this brilliant choreography as she dances with the Yellow Brick Road, played by 6-foot-tall dancers wearing yellow-brick tailcoats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP_qcvox8q8
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#13
Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:41pmYou're not bursting my bubble. I saw the first national tour in the '70s (with Lillias White in the chorus!), and it was great. Saw it twice.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#14
Posted: 6/26/14 at 11:05pmBy the time I saw that same tour Lillias White had moved up to the role of Dorothy and she was wonderful.
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#15
Posted: 6/26/14 at 11:18pm
Which Dorothy did you see on tour? Ren Woods, Renee Harris, or Deborah Malone?
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#16
Posted: 6/26/14 at 11:20pm
You can see Lillias on the left
Updated On: 6/26/14 at 11:20 PM
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/07
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#17
Posted: 6/26/14 at 11:32pmI would die to see Janelle Monáe as Dorothy. She should release a cover of Home yesterday.
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#18
Posted: 6/27/14 at 7:01am
I saw Deborah Malone (excellent).
That shot above with Lillias White in the chorus was the tour I saw. That's Annie Jo Edwards as Evilene. She played the maid Venus in the movie "Bullets Over Broadway."
Favorite Venus line: "I sure pity the folks who have to pay to see this play."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#19
Posted: 6/27/14 at 7:12am
Would love to see a revival.
This is one of great shows that needs to be done more frequently.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#20
Posted: 6/27/14 at 7:23am
One of the greatest disappointments of The Wiz at City Center was Ashanti giving a rather awful performance as Dorothy... They was only made worse about a month after hearing Adrienne Warren, who understudied Ashanti, knock "Home" out of the park at a concert.
HOWEVER, Tichina Arnold was a wonderful Evillene... and Darlesia Ceary was a showstopping Aunt. Em (she covered for LaChanze, who was there for Act Two and couldn't hold a candle to Cearcy..).
I would LOVE to see a slightly adapted version of the original make a return somewhere, though it would clearly only be a limited run... and amazing as she is and was, please keep Stephanie Mills FAR away from this one.
(Phylicia Rashad as Glinda, the role she covered in the original company, is quite tempting though... Or even Lillias White as Evillene...)
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#21
Posted: 6/27/14 at 7:41am
The revival of the show that Des McAnuff directed at the La Jolla Playhouse was phenomenal Innovative staging, great performances (the actor who played Toto was exceptional good - and really handsome)
That should have gone to Broadway.
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#22
Posted: 6/27/14 at 9:58am
This is one of my first favorite musicals. I saw Stephanie twice in a tour in Philly and the 80s revival. She was phenomenal, as was the whole cast. Holder re-invisioned his costumes. I LOVED IT! The cast album was worn out when I was a kid. I even had it on 8-track!
I want an unknown teenager as Dorothy. I wonder if they could have Lillias play Aunt Em and Evillene, because I'd LOVE to hear her sing "The Feeling We Once Had". Usually, if they double up, one actress plays Aunt Em and Glinda.
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#23
Posted: 6/27/14 at 10:33am
I'd love her in either role, but wouldn't playing both introduce an odd subtext?
Anyway, count me as a lover of this show, too. I saw the tour as a kid; by then I was on my second copy of the LP.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ#24
Posted: 6/27/14 at 10:45am
Doubling Aunt Em and Evillene would would create a subtext undermining both characters as well as Dorothy's journey and motivation, especially when you have a public who has an opinion colored by the MGM film.
It works when Aunt Em doubles Glinda, and I have seen it work with Evillene doubling Addaperle and The Wiz doubling Uncle Henry and the Emerald City Gatekeeper.
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