The Wiz @ LaJolla - reimagining

[children&art]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 4:52pm

from playbill.com, des mcanuff confirms his "re-imagining" of the wiz for lajolla in september.

he says its not a revival, but instead taking into account all the shifts in culture and music since the 70's, modern was his catch phrase.

what do you think his concept will be? do you think this will make it to broadway?

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 4:53pm

I hope it makes it to Broadway.

I bet it will be a spectacle!

*As if the original wasn't...

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 4:56pm

All I ask is that they don't ruin the score. I love the score to this show. I loved Quincy Jones' arrangements in the movie version, and always wanted to hear those arrangements on stage. Too bad it'll never happen.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 5:09pm

I REALLY wanna see the design inspired by grafitti art. It is a show I have wanted to design just so I could do that.

Akiva

[children&art]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 5:26pm

design inspired by graffiti? nah, not unless they got santino (from project runway) to do the costumes - remember his inspiration was wall graffiti. and besides, it couldnt be done any better than it was in the movie, that was some scary sh*t to a 7 year old kid.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 5:30pm

looking forward to seeing it. Yay Southern California theater!

[alterego]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 6:58pm

The term "re-imaging" is a worry in itself. Didn't they use graffitti in the movie version during the song "He's The Wiz"? It looked bad then and I fear it will look bad now. I just hope they don't do a "make it dark" makeover on it. It is The Wizard of Oz after all.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 7:06pm

I believe "taking into account shifts in culture" is a very vague, PC way of saying that the show will not feature an all black cast as it did originally on Broadawy and in the film. They are going "multicultural" - but I understand there has been some rumblings of protest from the black community who consider THE WIZ to be a black musical.

Otherwise, yes, of course the script and orchestrations will be updated. They are very, very 1970s.

I'd say there is a 50/50 chance this production could end up in NYC. It remains to be seen if there "really" is a big enough audience to warrent a 10 million dollar revival of this. The last revival lasted only a week, plus we have the ever popular WICKED to compete with this time around.

Updated On: 2/7/06 at 07:06 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 8:13pm

"The Wiz" was definitely conceived as a black (or, if you will, Afrocentric) musical. Not "any ethnic will do" or some sort of melting pot musical. Don't like the sound of this AT ALL. They'll kill what was so basically wonderful about the show...

...just like they did in the movie by setting in a New York-based "theme park."

Will they ever learn?

I think a certain amount of re-imagining is good to breathe new life into it... but when you kill the heart and soul (no pun intended) of it... why bother doing this show at all, then? Do "It's a Small World - The Musical" instead.

I'll be VERY surprised if this La Jolla production works well enough to bounce it to Broadway.

[thez914]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 9:03pm

I recently saw "The Well-Appointed Room" at Steppenwolf in Chicago (A fantastic production...search for my review if you're interested), and I noticed this in the profile of set designer Robert Brill:

"For Broadway, his credits include ASSASSINS (Tony nom) and the set and club design for the critically acclaimed revival of CABARET, in addition to A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, THE GOOD BODY, LAUGH WHORE, ANNA IN THE TROPICS, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, DESIGN FOR LIVING, BURIED CHILD, THE REHEARSAL, and the upcoming revival of THE WIZ."

This means two things: a) The revival WILL (or at least is expected to) travel to Broadway, and b) the set will be kickass judging from the inspired and successful credits listed here, and the amazing design for "The Well-Appointed Room."

Updated On: 2/7/06 at 09:03 PM

[andyf]

Posted: 2/7/06 at 9:58pm

I'm way too excited for this production and this girl - whoever she ends up being.

I'm definitely nervous it won't make it to Broadway, partly because of Wicked and partly because it's just too good to be true.

Anyway, that's why this psycho will be traveling to San Diego (from the east coast) this fall. Anybody else that crazy?

[lite2shine]

Posted: 2/8/06 at 12:21am

I'll definitely see this show but I do hope they will have a decent orchestra (or band). When they did "Palm Beach," their "orchestra" was like 4 (or 5) piece band and it was disappointing.

BUT, La Jolla Playhouse has produced pretty good shows in the past (including Big River and Jersey Boys), so I hope this production will be another smash hit.