THE WIZ Previews — Page 2

I'm disappointed that this doesn't seem poised to be a success. The Live version from a few years back showed promise. Did they keep the new songs, like "You Ain't Gonna Give Up On Me Now" or Neyo's "What Would I Do If I Could Feel" from that broadcast?

It's definitely a show that could have used some sprucing up. If people already have Wicked on Broadway, and the Wizard of Oz on DVD at home, you've got to deliver really, really strong alternative Oz material. The songs in the original Wiz are a bit of a mixed bag, from what I remember...

Thanks Jordan. What about the first one, which may have been called "Together We Do". It had great momentum, hope they kept it. Dorothy telling her friends they're going to take on the mission of killing the witch.

Oh darnit. Mistake.

Here's the live version. It's called "We Got This".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNfHerF_LV4

I'm not saying it's a great look for Dorothy to get everyone smiling about killing a person they've never met, but the song was energizing and a bit of an anthem.

The info on that video says that was written by Ne-Yo & Elijah Kelley specifically for that TV version. It didn't get added to this Broadway version. It definitely sounds like a Ne-Yo song.

There’s an audience for the show. I’ve learned over the years that some folks on this board don’t like anything. And the shows they go crazy about are a big yawn.

RippedMan said: "I mean it was sold out in Chicago for the few weeks it was here so clearly there’s an audience for it. Just see if they’ll show up and pay top dollar."

Many a musical revival (or musical based on a branded property) has started off strong and fizzled out after 6/12/15 weeks. We'll see what this WIZ can do. Its advance is strong, I'm told, but will take more to sustain it and become profitable. The benefit is that the Broadway capitalization is the same as the tour and it might have already returned some money to investors.

Updated On: 3/30/24 at 11:35 PM

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "RippedMan said: "I mean it was sold out in Chicago for the few weeks it was here so clearly there’s an audience for it. Just see if they’ll show up and pay top dollar."

Many a musical revival (or musical based on a branded property) has started off strong and fizzled out after 6/12/15 weeks. We'll see what this WIZ can do. Its advance is strong, I'm told, but will take more to sustain it and become profitable. The benefit is that the Broadway capitalization is the same as thetour and it might have already returned some money to investors."

That would make sense since this feels like just another "tour stop" and it will do well back out on the road.

Short of a highly compelling case like winning some major awards, this is meant to be a limited run and contracts of the cast will be up by September.

Since it’s going back on tour, I think Broadway is just meant to be the last stop before ending this run. Plus, if I recall, the last two tours that arrived on Broadway - JEKYLL & HYDE and MOTOWN both crashed and burned. (SIX wasn’t really a full tour - it was essentially two back to back tryouts)

It was crap in LA.

Listener said: "I'm disappointed that this doesn't seem poised to be a success. The Live version from a few years back showed promise. Did they keep the new songs, like "You Ain't Gonna Give Up On Me Now" or Neyo's "What Would I Do If I Could Feel" from that broadcast?"



"What Would I do If I Could Feel" is not a new song to the show. It is part of the original score.

Updated On: 3/31/24 at 01:42 PM

brdwybound04 said: "The box office manager told me last week when ai purchased my ticket at the Box Office, that it had already banked +$8 million in advance sales for its Broadway run, and was aiming to run through the end of this year minimum, and hopefully through next spring, before heading back out on tour July 2025…"

Not true as my agent friend said contracts are through end of July for the Broadway run and it plans on going back out on tour- dates tbd for '25

brdwybound04 said: "The box office manager told me last week when ai purchased my ticket at the Box Office, that it had already banked +$8 million in advance sales for its Broadway run, and was aiming to run through the end of this year minimum, and hopefully through next spring, before heading back out on tour July 2025…"

The tour restarts in February 2025.