THE WIZ Opening Night Critics’ Reviews — Page 2

NY Theater:

https://newyorktheater.me/2024/04/17/the-wiz-broadway-review/

"The cast as a whole can sing to the rafters and dance like the dickens, but their belting started to feel like an American Idol competition, and some of the dance numbers seemed so frenzied that at times they gave off an aura of desperation. This unmodulated, artificial-feeling fervor made me wonder whether there were too many cities on their 13-city pre-Broadway tour, leading the cast to overcompensate in order to stave off fatigue. Or had director Schele Williams simply decided that entertainment is best served with an overdose of adrenaline?"

McHenry in Vulture:

The Wiz Rolls Back Into Town

Big high-energy performances, undercut by the folks behind the curtain.

https://www.vulture.com/article/theater-review-the-wiz-broadway-revival.html

"The jokes are good, but as they pile up, they undermine the show. My childhood memories of seeing the film of both The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz are tinted by moments of real terror, especially from that menacing witch. Here, Ruffin and Williams shoo all the scary stuff away. Betts’s Evillene is made too goofy to be a real threat—while melting, she announces that “worst of all, it is ruining my silk press!”—and those threatening poppies are mostly about blissing out and encouraging the characters to prioritize self-care. A show like The Wiz needn’t be a horror movie. Part of its lasting power is in its upbeat, joyous qualities, especially as a Black American narrative without a significant trauma plot. But if you subtract what’s ominous from Dorothy’s journey you also risk losing the adjacent sensations of awe and wonder. There should be something a little mysterious and chilling about a fantastical trip into another world, which neither The Wiz’s punched up book nor its shrunken-down staging manage to access."

The producers should be thanking their lucky stars that Maya Phillips reviewed this instead of Jesse Green.

Her mixed review will also save us from some discourse...yay?

David Gordon is spot on.

Updated On: 4/17/24 at 11:40 PM

These are pretty dreadful reviews for a show that has been selling like hotcakes out of town. The last revival of The Wiz on Broadway was also a cheap tour using a Broadway theatre as a tour stop. It's a shame, as I don't think The Wiz is likely to get another shot any time soon, if ever, to truly shine on a Broadway stage.

At least the cast is getting high praise. If it gets a recording, it sounds like it will still be worth listening to. I'm sure it will continue to sell well when it goes back on the road.

Honestly these are kinder than I expected…

PipingHotPiccolo said: "blaxx said: "This is as bad as it gets."

huh? these seem very mixed to positive and with tons of readily quotable lines to plaster all over manhattan. compared to what they had to say about lempicka, these are solid reviews."

They're certainly not "as bad as it gets" but I also think "mixed to positive" is pretty generous when reading through these...

Interesting that they're calling the Post and Variety reviews mixed.

MemorableUserName said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "DTLI Consensus:Strong central performances and the effervescent-as-ever score make up for the cheap design and directorial choices, making thisWiza serviceable enough affair.

5 positive, 4 mixed (including the NYT), 2 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/the-wiz-bway/"

Interesting that they're calling the Post and Variety reviews mixed."

Especially the Post review. Nothing about that is mixed.

Jordan Catalano said: "This many positive reviews for this one truly shock me. Maybe the critics were afraid of Sara Bareilles making a video about them."

ha i have to say, while i thought the reaction to the lempicka reviews were somewhat delusional, i imagine that production is fuming reading these.

PipingHotPiccolo said: "blaxx said: "This is as bad as it gets."

huh? these seem very mixed to positive and with tons of readily quotable lines to plaster all over manhattan. compared to what they had to say about lempicka, these are solid reviews."

For a show and score of this calibre, yes, these are dreadful.

Also, the only mixed-to-positive thing about this joke of a revival is that it's just passing through.

I almost wonder if DTLI it skewed some of these review scores after the Lempicka review discourse this week, because some of those are definitely pans and middling that are listed as raves...

CukorLover said: "MemorableUserName said: "Theatermania:

Review: A Big, Empty Revival ofThe WizLacks the Magic of Broadway

Perhaps six months on tour isn’t the best way to kick off a run.


https://www.theatermania.com/news/review-a-big-empty-revival-of-the-wiz-lacks-the-magic-of-broadway_1737204/

"The dancers give Knight’s repetitive choreography their all but are clearly bored or tired — I’ve never seen so many ensemble members going through the motions all at once, especially on a critics’ night in the run-up to Tony nominations. Williams’s direction is similar: bare minimum, dead behind the eyes. You don’t realize how tricky scene transitions are until you watch the Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow just slowly back off stage like they’re in aFamily Guycutaway. There’s no connection, no chemistry, no soul. This is as lifeless a production as I’ve ever seen on Broadway, and, quite frankly, it’s shocking."

OUCH!

"

This is how I felt watching the Into the Woods tour. Granted that’s a concert production, but some baffling direction choices.