THE WIZ broadway transfer?
THE WIZ broadway transfer?
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/13/04
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#2
Posted: 10/8/06 at 2:02pmIt'll depend on the reviews (which will be out in the next couple of days) and a few other factors like theatre availability (apparently it's a grand scale environmental production which will probably need a larger-sized house). There's no definite plan for a move yet, but several Broadway producers are said to be interested.
Understudy Joined: 6/7/05
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#3
Posted: 10/8/06 at 3:45pmSeveral Broadway producers? The Dodgers have been developing it with Des for almost 6 years.
Featured Actor Joined: 1/31/05
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#4
Posted: 10/8/06 at 3:49pm
There is even a website for it, assuming it does transfer. Someone seems hopeful ...
www.wizbroadway.com
Updated On: 10/8/06 at 03:49 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/23/05
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#6
Posted: 10/8/06 at 7:05pm
http://rsrichietoday.blogspot.com/
It's the no matter what that worries me.
This from a friend who just saw it..and believe me..he wanted to love it!
Any other reviews?
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#7
Posted: 10/8/06 at 7:30pmOuch! That review hurt me! But from what I am reading here, good and bad, this version seems a far cry from the original, which I loved enough to see 3 times.
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#8
Posted: 10/8/06 at 7:33pm
Didn't mean to hurt you....or anyone....really..my friend Rich LOVES the show, or did. He really is a huge theatre fan and knows his stuff, but he just was truly disappointed in what they did to the Wiz.
Hopefully they'll make the adjustments.
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#9
Posted: 10/8/06 at 7:39pmI was joking there! I do plan to see it though.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/23/05
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#11
Posted: 10/8/06 at 9:26pmI think it should transfer. I just can't figure out which theatre would be best for it.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/23/05
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#13
Posted: 10/8/06 at 9:30pmdo they? well, then hopefully the announcement will be made soon.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/05
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/13/04
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#15
Posted: 10/8/06 at 9:58pm
But - The Producers is at the St. James
I didn't think they had any intention of closing.
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#16
Posted: 10/8/06 at 10:01pmNo one ever has intentions of closing...
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#17
Posted: 10/8/06 at 10:11pm
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=899109
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=896653
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=854638
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=853215
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=848134
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=844323
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=843796
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=841887
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=470114
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=238551
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=35866
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/23/05
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#18
Posted: 10/8/06 at 10:14pmWanna be a Foster- Half of those threads are completley unrelated to this. I don't know why you posted them unless you were trying to be a smartass.
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#19
Posted: 10/8/06 at 10:22pmI don't get it either.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#20
Posted: 10/9/06 at 12:37amI really hope it transfers. I like bold shows like this that don't try and recreate something. It's a bold choice and I'm glad someone is willing to put some money behind it. How is the theater it is currently playing in? does it look like a normal house?
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/05
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#21
Posted: 10/9/06 at 12:53am
You probably meant a "standard" house instead of normal. Yes, the Mandel Weiss Theater is standard theater but smaller compared to the Broadway Theater or the Carnegie. It is probably closer to the Mark Taper Forum at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in LA.
The La Jolla Playhouse has 3 theaters: the Mandell Weiss Theatre, the largest of the theatres, is a proscenium stage (where Wiz is playing); the Mandell Weiss Forum is a thrust stage; and the new Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, opened in February, 2005, is a black-box theatre.
Theater Info
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Aldous Huxley
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/03
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#22
Posted: 10/9/06 at 3:07amIf it does transfer I predict it'll close promptly. It sounds VILE.
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#23
Posted: 10/9/06 at 3:23am
I have no idea if it's going to transfer or not. But it's visually stunning, better than Zhivago they did this year.
BUT they HAVE TO work on the WWW part/scene, the actress screamed so much I couldn't understand what she was saying. Also there is no meaning of putting the audience on the stage unless the cast really interact with them. I understand Des wanted to the audience to experience the show up close, but there is no meaning (for the audience seats on the stage) at this point.
Stand-by Joined: 5/28/06
re: THE WIZ broadway transfer?#24
Posted: 10/9/06 at 12:08pm
I went to see it on Sunday afternoon with extremely high hopes. I had seen the original production of The Wiz back in the mid-Seventies and it made me excited to see what Des McAnuff would come up with because I loved Tommy, and more recently was excited by his production of Zhivago. I really wanted to like it. Heck, I really wanted to love it as much I do the original show.
Unfortunately, I felt McAnuff only succeeded about 60% of the time. For spectacle, it is an incredible show. The sets are great. But what's missing is what was missing from the Tin Man, the heart. I felt none of the original show's charm. Several of the important numbers are revamped and in doing so, I feel they have lost their greatness: "No Bad News" and "Everybody Rejoice." The latter is one of my favorite songs but I feel it has been so reorchestrated that it has none of the incredible joy of the original. Too much business is done on stage during the number. The orchestra occasionaly drowns out the performers, particularly during "If You Believe."
I don't fault the cast any of the problem with the show, for they are superb, with three exceptions. The three are E. Faye Butler as Evilene, Albert Blaise Cataafi as Toto, and Heather Lee as Addaperle. I just didn't feel what I need to from Butler as Evilene. I think the only person who could do justice to the role that Mabel King was so incredible in is Jennifer Holiday. As to Cataafi as Toto, I think the whole idea of having Toto played throughout by anything other than a real dog is a big mistake. And that brings us to Heather Lee as Addaperle. From the moment she appeared on the scene in the first act, my reservations about this production show started. She was just annoying, to put it nicely.
Now, let's look at the strong points, Titus Burgess as the Lion, David Alan Grier as the Wiz, Rashad Naylor as the Scarecrow, and Michael Benjamin Washington as the Tin Man were terrific. (At some point during the show, Washington must have hurt his leg because he was definitely favoring one of his legs.)
I wanted to leave a separate paragraph for Nikki M. James as Dorothy. I sense a star in the making. She has in incredible presence and singing voice. To me, she was by far the best thing in the show. She comes across with such a natural inner confidence. However, that is a bit of a problem beause Dorothy is supposed to be brave but afraid. I never felt the "afraid" part from James. But I still loved her.
At the beginning of the show, a glitch happened with TV images not being shown and McAnuff stopped the show and came on stage to tell the audience he wanted to start it again so we could feel the entire effect. It was great seeing him there in person.
The set is a star of the show. With catwalks everywhere, the performers are free to be up, down, wherever. One problem comes out of this, though, McAnuff often has several things going on at one time during a scene (performers up on catwalk, some of the yellow brick road that comes throught the audience, some down in the center area that rises and falls, some hanging on cables as flying monkeys, etc.). One doesn't know where to look, but with all the spectacle, I know I missed concentrating on the main performers center stage. My seat was almost center in the F row, just in front of the "yellow brick road," and at times I could feel the brush of someone behind me on the "road".
Is it as good as the original? No. Do I think it will transfer to Broadway? Possibly. Should it? In the current state it is in, no. Do I think you should see it while it is at La Jolla? Definitely.
Updated On: 10/9/06 at 12:08 PM
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