Next year: 40th Anniversary of THE WIZ

[best12bars]

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.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:10pm

Yes! Yes! And Yes!

This and a revival of DREAMGIRLS I want!

Krystal Joy Brown as Dorothy

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:14pm

Is Anika Noni Rose too old for Dorothy?

[justincharacter]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:16pm

I was thinking of her too. She reads young onstage, but she is 41.

[east side story]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:16pm

Anything would be better than that embarrassingly horrible production at City Center from a few summers ago.

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:24pm

Terri White as Evillene!

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:26pm

It would be nice to get an actual teenager to play Dorothy. What's next Annaleigh Ashford as Annie?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:27pm

I think Lillias White as Evillene

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:28pm

Bring it!

[justincharacter]

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?

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:35pm

Not 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?

[CurtainsUpat8]

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.

[best12bars]

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

Updated On: 6/26/14 at 10:37 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 10:41pm

You'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.

[morosco]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 11:05pm

By the time I saw that same tour Lillias White had moved up to the role of Dorothy and she was wonderful.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 11:18pm

Which Dorothy did you see on tour? Ren Woods, Renee Harris, or Deborah Malone?

[justincharacter]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 11:20pm

You can see Lillias on the left
Updated On: 6/26/14 at 11:20 PM

[rougeduck]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 11:32pm

I would die to see Janelle Monáe as Dorothy. She should release a cover of Home yesterday.

[best12bars]

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."

Updated On: 6/27/14 at 07:01 AM

[tazber]

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.

[broadwayguy2]

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...)

[VernonGersch]

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.

[doodlenyc]

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.

[Reginald Tresilian]

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.

[broadwayguy2]

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.