THE WIZ Opening Night Critics’ Reviews — Page 4

darquegk said: "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 blaxploitationfairy 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!)"

You're referring to the watermelon moon, but I think that was only done in the revival. None of the photos I've seen of the OBC feature it, and Glinda's costume wouldn't fit in with it (as her costume for the revival did).

I went tonight and…oy. My expectations were lowered but, to borrow from Adam Feldman, they unfortunately weren’t lowered enough. From the outset, the ensemble looked so exhausted and zombie-like in their movements, which made the random hip hop/street dance breaks look even more remarkably out of place. The choreography that actually fit with this production, unfortunately, is community theatre-basic.

The HEAVY reliance on the screen as a backdrop with just a couple set pieces in and out is INCREDIBLY cheap looking and, while it may be fine for touring, it does not pass muster on Broadway. God forbid the power goes out or something, they won’t have a screen OR a show.

Kyle Ramar Freeman seemed to be the only one who gave their all and was able to overcome all of the poor directorial choices. Nichelle was fine, as were Avery and Phillip, but sometimes they were hard to hear over the orchestra. Wayne and Deborah are glorified cameos.

Overall, I just felt indifferent and baffled in equal measure. What could’ve EASILY been a slam dunk turned out to be one of the biggest botches of the season

The cast album will be out 7/12/24.