The Wiz Movie Vs. Show

[smallvillefan16]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:44pm

I hope this topic is not somewhere in the forum - if so, please just post the link, but I have recently become really interested in The Wiz. I recently purchased the movie [having seen it numerous times as a child and not being a fan], but I realized the show is very different from the movie. Can someone give me an exact breakdown of the difference? Is the opening show set around a family gathering? How old is Dorothy supposed to be? Did the show have more of a fantasy element to it [instead of using NYC as a more realistic set]? And why did they slow down the majority of Dorothy's songs? Thanks

[defyingravity07]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:47pm

Dorothy is a teenager & not a teacher.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:51pm

The show is a complete fantasy, unlike the movie. I do not like the more realistic setting of the movie.

I just saw the Encores! production and the movie this week, and the movie was really disappointing. I enjoyed the stage show, a lot.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:52pm

Think ACL Show/Movie & you have the answer although Wiz is not the absolute mess ACL movie is.

Updated On: 6/27/09 at 06:52 PM

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:53pm

The biggest changes were moving Oz from a fantasy world to NYC (a change I kinda liked) and aging Dorothy to her 20s, so that a 32 year old Diana Ross could play the role (One I'm not so thrilled about.)

Basically, the stage version follows the story as we all really know it. There isn't a big family gathering, Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion all live in the appropriate places, etc.

The only song that's really changed tempo wise, is "Soon as I Get Home" which instead of being an uptempo is a ballad (One I kinda prefer), and really that's more because of the tonal shift to a much darker world, and setting. Honestly, would you buy an uptempo song in the middle of rubble? I certainly wouldn't.

I can give you an exact breakdown of the changes, but this pretty well covers your biggest questions.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:53pm

I'm one of very few who really likes the movie...the pacing is terrible, but I love the idea of turning New York into the Emerald City. I love the new songs, and despite her age, I enjoyed Diana Ross quite a lot. Michael Jackson was born to play the Scarecrow.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 7:22pm

The contributions by other composers are my least favorite moments of the film. I'm not a huge fan of "You Can't Win" over "I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday", but at least it was still written by Charlie Smalls. "Can I Go On?" is dreadful and the Emerald City Green/Red/Gold sequence is pretty crappy and terrible. I'm not a huge fan of the Emerald City Ballet either so that moment has always been troubled for me, personally. My favorite solution was the reprise of "He's the Wiz" that was used in the La Jolla Playhouse production.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 9:19pm

I agree that the Green/Red/Gold sequence is absolute hell to sit through.

[BillFinn]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 10:34pm

I really like the movie, but for all of the wrong reasons. I'm a Lena Horne fan, so I watch it for her performance. It's subtle, brief, and yet breath taking. I also like this scene they added after Dorothy gets caught in the blizzard. You see the cyclone in the palm of Glinda's hand and then she blows it into Oz. There's something very whimsical about that? Don't know why.

I view the movie as more of a film showcasing New York City in the 70's. I see so much of it in my grandparents old pictures, so to see more of that archaic subway? or Coney Island? and even that little garage they run all over. It's kind of cool.

[amoni]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 11:19pm

Sidney Lumet managed to take a beautiful stage show and make one of the ugliest movies ever made. The sets are ugly, the costumes are ugly and the "genius" Quincy Jones destroyed the music to boot. The ridiculous site of Lena Horne (Lumet's Mother-In-Law) hamming it up while hanging by a wire and actual infants pinned to a bedazzled black backdrop was icing on the cake of a disaster. Ironically, only Ted Ross and Mabel King come out unscathed. I saw it in NY on opening day with about ten other people in attendance. It managed to gross a whopping $13 million.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 11:27pm

The movie version is quite bad, but I still oddly enjoy some of it. And I do love Michael Jackson's performance, personally.