THE WIZ Opening Night Critics’ Reviews — Page 3

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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 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 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?

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!)

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