THE WIZ Opening Night Critics’ Reviews- Page 3

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 8:51am

GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "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..."

 

I find that DTLI often rounds up. Sometimes they'll change an ranking.

 

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 9:03am

Oh dear. These reviews do not look good on the whole.

I’m going next week and hoping for the best.

[Mickey3309]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 9:42am

OhHiii said: "I just don’t understand how Williams has landed these positions when the results are consistently this mediocre at best. Same was said for her Aida in Europe. It doesn’t seem she has any point of view to speak of in her direction (not that working with Greif is a way to broaden your range), and it’s even clearer that she does not have a vocabulary with design teams. It’s her responsibility to guide her team to realize her vision…well and to have a vision to begin with."

Schele Williams appears to be one of the most shielded people in the industry and I do not get it. Her lack of skill is glaring and evidenced by what feels like near-universal disapproval of her directorial choices. While this is apparent on message boards and through word-of-mouth, it seems higher-up forces won’t candidly say what is so obvious.

Updated On: 4/18/24 at 09:42 AM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 11:17am

QueenTwinnied said: "Oh look some more unchecked, blatant racism on this message board. Shocking"

Nothing racist about it. DEI is the racism and it’s failing all over the place. Just Google it. Of course, any attempt to get things back on track - regardless of race but instead focusing on ability and talent - will be called “racism!!!” when it’s anything but.

The likes on my earlier comment show that I’m not the only person who realizes this. 

Updated On: 4/18/24 at 11:17 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 11:20am

Schele Williams was in the extremely lucky position of being hired for 3 high-profile projects without people seeing her directing work prior. As we've said before, she probably presents herself well in a pitch meeting and she may run a warm rehearsal room, but that's a different skill than directing and reinvisioning a show.

I think it's pretty easy to read between the lines of how she got each job:

• AIDA came up first. She was in the original production and perhaps Tom Schumacher wanted a director who knew the original, instead of an auteur putting a new spin on it.
• THE WIZ probably hired her on the basis of "well if she's good enough for Disney..." + a good pitch
• For THE NOTEBOOK, Kevin McCollum may have enjoyed working with her on MOTOWN: she associate-directed it and staged the tour (and likely had a big role in the short-lived return engagement).

It is in equal parts a failure of producing, led by two longtime industry veterans (Mike Isaacson and Kristin Caskey/ATG) who should have known better than deferring, creatively, to a novice director & co-lead producer when it comes to Broadway musicals. Did the tour even return any money to investors? That was the whole reason to tour it prior to Broadway and jointly capitalize the tour + NY production!

Worth noting, too, that this is a creative team that came together from very different corners of the entertainment industry. A good director might have put them on the same page, but here they have scenic & costume designers who have mainly worked in film, a choreographer not known for musical theatre work, and a misguided idea of how the projections could serve the story. It also makes me think a little less highly of Amber Ruffin: perhaps her role on Some Like It Hot was more of a joke-writer and ideas person, and Matt Lopez was doing the yeoman's share of the structuring and typing.

Wish we lived in an alternate reality where this was directed by Robert O'Hara or Camille Brown or Whitney White or George Wolfe. Even Kenny Leon (historically bad with musicals) would have been better!

Updated On: 4/18/24 at 11:20 AM

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 12:30pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Wish we lived in an alternate reality where this was directed by Robert O'Hara or Camille Brown or Whitney White or George Wolfe. Even Kenny Leon (historically bad with musicals) would have been better!"

Kenny Leon has directed The Wiz several times, including the NBC live adaptation, which was well-received.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 12:33pm

You're right, I blocked the NBC out of my head!

That was announced for Broadway (with Neil Meron & Shubert producing) but then fell through.

[BETTY22]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 12:53pm

Wow...these review are awful.

I can't believe some folks are saying they are mixed......ouch

[Ensemble1698878795]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 1:02pm

Can anyone point to what Schele Williams has successfully directed prior to this season? 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 1:05pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "QueenTwinnied said: "Oh look some more unchecked, blatant racism on this message board. Shocking"

Nothing racist about it. DEI is the racism and it’s failing all over the place. Just Google it. Of course, any attempt to get things back on track - regardless of race but instead focusing onability and talent- will be called “racism!!!” when it’s anything but.

The likes on my earlier comment show that I’m not the only person who realizes this."



Your earlier comment has been deleted, so thankfully BWW did not let it go unchecked.

Mine rebutting yours also has been deleted. It had four times as many likes as yours, if we're playing that game, so there were plenty more people who saw exactly what you were doing and disagreed with you.

Updated On: 4/18/24 at 01:05 PM

[gibsons2]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 1:13pm

perfectliar said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Wish we lived in an alternate reality where this was directed by Robert O'Hara or Camille Brown or Whitney White or George Wolfe. Even Kenny Leon (historically bad with musicals) would have been better!"

Kenny Leon has directedThe Wizseveral times, including the NBC live adaptation, which was well-received."

Kenny Leon is a fantastic director, imo. I have purchased tickets to a couple of productions just because he directed, not because I was initially interested in material or cast. Very impressed with his work, always. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 2:17pm

Kenny Leon is a fantastic director of plays.

His work on musicals has left much to be desired for many audiences and critics (ranging from The Tap Dance Kid to Holler If Ya Hear Me)

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 2:39pm

Seems like ticket sales are ok for now. Come the middle of May forget about it …

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 2:44pm

WldKingdomHM said: "Seems like ticket sales are ok for now. Come the middle of May forget about it …"

This is a new family show that tourists can take in this summer. They’ve all seen Lion King, Aladdin and Wicked and this is something new for them. I think they’ll be fine. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 2:57pm

WldKingdomHM said: "Seems like ticket sales are ok for now. Come the middle of May forget about it …"

Yeah, I wonder what its staying power will be like. It's had a strong start, but a lot of musical revivals start strong. 

It's the one show right now that really speaks to Black ticketbuyers (not that that's a demo that can single-handedly sustain a show). It and Back to the Future are sort of the two genuine family-friendly shows of the season (joining Aladdin/Lion King/Wicked for that coveted audience), but there are of course a lot of shows that you could bring a kid or teen to and they'd probably have a good enough time (Juliet, Moulin Rouge, Six, Gatsby, Outsiders, Hell's Kitchen, I guess Hamilton has become family fare as long as the kids aren't too little).

It's on sale through August 18, and considering that the tour doesn't pick up until February I assume they can extend through January as long as the demand is there for an extension.

Updated On: 4/18/24 at 02:57 PM

[BroadwayAndSports]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 3:08pm

I genuinely don't understand how DTLI rated the reviews. Saying "there are problems but it's fun" is a positive review and saying "this is cheap and bland" is mixed??? Make it make sense.

 

I also don't get what people see in Schele Williams but that's just my opinion 

[BdwyFan]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 3:14pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "WldKingdomHM said: "Seems like ticket sales are ok for now. Come the middle of May forget about it …"

Yeah, Iwonder what its staying power will be like. It's had a strong start, but a lot of musical revivals start strong.

It's the one show right now that reallyspeaks to Black ticketbuyers (not that that's a demo that can single-handedly sustain a show). It and Back to the Future are sort of the two genuine family-friendly shows of the season (joiningAladdin/Lion King/Wicked for that coveted audience), but there are of course a lot of shows that you could bring a kid or teen to and they'd probably have a good enough time (Juliet, Moulin Rouge, Six, Gatsby, Outsiders, Hell's Kitchen, I guess Hamilton has become family fare as long as the kids aren't too little).

It's on sale through August 18, and considering that the tour doesn't pick up until February I assume they can extend through January as long asthe demand is there for an extension."

I understand there’s a very strong advance. This show will do very well and will prove critic proof. Not to worry.    

 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 3:18pm

I don't have any experience with Schele Willams (and haven't seen her two shows this year yet), but I wonder if it was an issue that in her first direction outing on Broadway she's doing two shows (one is co-directed to be fair, but Michael Grief is doing 3 shows, so not sure how much that's getting split)

[Kad]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 3:24pm

chrishuyen said: "I don't have any experience with Schele Willams (and haven't seen her two shows this year yet), but I wonder if it was an issue that in her first direction outing on Broadway she's doing two shows (one is co-directed to be fair, but Michael Grief is doing 3 shows, so not sure how much that's getting split)"

The Wiz was pretty much set once it started previews- it’s been touring for months, and the issues it had on the road are the same issues people had with it here. This wasn’t a matter of split attention.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 3:27pm

Kad said: "chrishuyen said: "I don't have any experience with Schele Willams (and haven't seen her two shows this year yet), but I wonder if it was an issue that in her first direction outing on Broadway she's doing two shows (one is co-directed to be fair, but Michael Grief is doing 3 shows, so not sure how much that's getting split)"

The Wiz was pretty much set once it started previews- it’s been touring for months, and the issues it had on the road are the same issues people had with it here. This wasn’t a matter of split attention."

I mean it seems like Broadway was meant to just be another tour stop, but if they really wanted to make the show better, wouldn't it have made sense to try to implement some changes for Broadway? Especially if all the issues have been noted throughout the tour.  

[joevitus]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 3:30pm

chrishuyen said: "Kad said: "chrishuyen said: "I don't have any experience with Schele Willams (and haven't seen her two shows this year yet), but I wonder if it was an issue that in her first direction outing on Broadway she's doing two shows (one is co-directed to be fair, but Michael Grief is doing 3 shows, so not sure how much that's getting split)"

The Wiz was pretty much set once it started previews- it’s been touring for months, and the issues it had on the road are the same issues people had with it here. This wasn’t a matter of split attention."

I mean it seems like Broadwaywas meant to just be another tour stop, but if they really wanted to make the show better, wouldn't it have made sense to try to implement some changes for Broadway? Especially if all the issues have been noted throughout the tour."

I mean "if they really wanted to make the show better" kinda sums it all up, right?

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 5:56pm

quizking101 said: "Oh dear. These reviews do not look good on the whole.

I’m going next week and hoping for the best."

I always look forward to your opinions. I'm hoping it's a fun night out for you but I'll enjoy reading your thoughts regardless.

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/19/24 at 6:55pm

The Wiz is a show that seems to thrive when it has a hook. Geoffrey Holder’s original staging was an allegorical journey through the mirror of cultural blackness, with Oz treated as a winking embrace/refutation of the “mother Africa” cultural movement at the time. The film, different as it was, at least found its own hook as a very seventies blaxploitation fairy tale: Alice in Wonderland by way of The Warriors. 
 

Everything I’ve seen of this production just looks like a slick, stylish all-black Wizard of Oz. There’s no allegorical hook or theme or POV. The show may be family friendly, but it should be subversive as well; the film’s blaxploitation and stylized ghetto imagery was somewhat edgy at the time, especially when connected with polished Motown gloss. (And some of Holder’s design choices in the OBC were shocking then and would be downright incendiary now!)  

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 6:34pm

Not a review, but an interview some may find interesting:

Star Choreographer JaQuel Knight Takes His Talents to The Wiz

The artist behind “WAP” and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” talks sexifying the Poppy Girls, getting the Tin Man’s back into it, and channeling Black joy regardless of the medium.

https://slate.com/culture/2024/04/wiz-revival-jaquel-knight-beyonce-choreographer.html

[smallvillefan16]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 4:28pm

Do we know if this show will get a cast recording?