The Wiz - Official Schedule — Page 2

Its a monster sing isnt it? Stephanie Mills makes it sound easy but I looked at the sheet music the other month for a girlfriend as she freaked at "Home". I liked Laurie Beechman's version too had didnt realise it went above the stave...oops

can't say I like the new graphics that much.

ok, well. AT ALL

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I think the original artwork is one of my favorite designs for a show.

THE WIZ has always been a sentimental favorite of mine - I grew up with the cast recording and got to see Stephanie Mills do the role on national tour when I was still in high school in the early 90s.

That said, I actually saw a production of THE WIZ last night in California and came away thinking that no matter what they do to the property, this isn't a show that really should be revived on Broadway.

The book/concept/score is just incredibly of its time. Yes, they can rewrite the jokes. Yes, they can reorchestrate the songs. Yes, they can be PC and cast "multiracially."

But no matter what you do with it - I don't think the show is ever going to feel fresh or current again. It's just like slapping a new shade of paint on some rusty vinyl siding.

Because when you get down to it -- it's really not a very strong piece of writing. A lot of the score is actually pretty terrible. And despite its multiple Tony wins, it didn't get good reviews when it first opened. It was buoyed by an unexpected response from the African American community and a previously untapped theatrical market.

And the whole multicultural thing is just a bad idea. I went back and read Charlie Small's liner notes, and it is perfectly, 100 percent clear that the show was meant to be an all black gospal/soul retelling of THE WIZARD OF OZ.

There is no reason why a new writing team couldn't take the public domain story and write a completely new show - a 21st century musical OZ, which makes the reason for bringing back THE WIZ and trying to modernize it even less compelling.

I just have a feeling this revival is going to be DOA. Neither relevant or necessary and with WICKED still a hot ticket, probably not a show that would be wise to bring back to Broadway.

Updated On: 4/30/06 at 11:27 PM

Well, if the new production doesn't work - do you think they'll be at least one review with the headline: "THE WIZ: Lost the feelin' it once had."

I love *most* of the score too, Margo - though I don't consider it first rate. But the problem of re-writing to update would have to be applied so heavily to the orchestrations and in particular to the lyrics - it just hardly makes sense to actually produce the show.

I mean even the venacular of the song titles are completely and utterly linked to 1970s lingo: "Slide some Oil to Me" "Ease on down the Road" "Y'all Got it" "A Rested Body is a Rested Mind" and on and on.

It just seems like an impossible and futile task. I think the show deserves continued regional life and maybe Des will come up with something that Samuel French can use to make the original score a little current - but this is not something I see as Broadway worthy. I mean if it has to be so changed that it isn't even THE WIZ when they are done - why do it?

You know, I think I'm going to have to respectively disagree. Yes, the piece is firmly a product of its time. I'm not going to begin to liken it to something like COMPANY, but I think THE WIZ at least deserves the chance to have a completely new take on it. If I remember correctly, I believe I heard a few years ago that it is being approached as a sort of enviromental production. I always got the impression, and indeed feel that the show would work quite well as a story that surrounds the audience. In it's current state, it's very flat - it knows it's performing (in many instances) to the audience. Why not take an entirely different approach? It's theatre! Honestly, the only Broadway production I've seen of this show was a video of the 80s revival with Stephanie Mills. To be honest, I was SEVERELY disappointed with the production. The tempos were outrageous, the set was terrible, and several cast members were, shall we say lackluster. The piece needs fresh blood and a fresh approach.

I do agree that many of the song titles, lyrics and book elements are steeped heavily in the 70s venacular. If one were to look at contemporary music, up until the last 5 or so years, many of our bass beats, chords, etc were based on 70s-80s music. Our theatre scene hasn't even gotten close to "contemporary" music, so why are we fretting when updates are to occur to an old score?

Some songs are stick out like a sore thumb... for example, "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" is written into the book terribly. THE WIZ, as a show, will probably be BETTER with a book revision. With that comes score updates, etc.

As far as cramming in hip hop beats, I don't think we need to worry about this for much of the score. Not all "contemporary" music has this feel to it. Besides, I don't think you could take songs like "BELIEVE IN YOURSELF" and morph it successfully to this! The score is all around in terms of musical genres, and I think the updates will reflect this.

THE WIZARD OF OZ is a fantastical story that's embedded in audiences minds. The only thing that, in written form, makes THE WIZ a "black" piece is it's lyrical/dialogue usage. In today's society, our accepted vocabulary includes so many slang & ethnic tonalities, words and phrases that we've become very uni-centric (my term..probably not the best, but I'm tired!) Are the ideals or ultimate "points" that this "black" version of THE WIZARD OF OZ utilizes that different from current times? THE WIZ, at its core, is just an example of story telling. I don't see any problem using the widest variety of cast members to tell it. But, then again, unless a story specifically states that "so and so" should be of a certain race or creed, I think it's USUALLY fair game. Why must Dorothy be black? Just because of her songs?


To share a story I received a while back, through an email group (with thanks to its author)...

"The first time I met Sondheim was in January 1980. I was a senior in college, had written Sondheim a letter, and he agreed to meet me during my Christmas break. One question I asked him was, other than his own work, what shows of recent vintage had impressed or moved him. He said "The Wiz". He saw my look of shock and amazement, and went on to explain. Here, 26 years later, is my memory of that response: "Three reasons, primarily. First, the song "Ease on Down the Road". Do you know the word prosody? It's how words sit on music. That lyric was born to sit on that piece of music. It's incredibly rare when you get music and lyrics to match so perfectly. Second, I thought the staging of the tornado was brilliant. Third, the song "Home". I've learned that we tend to most respect that which we cannot do. I could never write a song that sentimental, and I'm in awe of people who can...and who can do it well." "

I don't know, call me crazy, but I think this production could be quite good. And if anyone has connections to La Jolla, I'm only a few hours away and happy to work for little pay


One quick question for Margo: If you don't mind, I'm interested to see how you think the piece would be self-conscious with slang updates. Perhaps I don't see how it is any different than using "current" slang in it's original production?

Feel free to discuss,

Charlie Piane
charlie@pianeproductions.org

Updated On: 5/1/06 at 01:37 AM

I am looking forward to this revival, I think revivals put new interest into the old material and keep it from eventualy being forgotten. As for the concept of the revival, I think it's best to wait and see what it looks like before trashing it. There is no need to get upset over assumptions that may not be true. The new concept could work well and be quite impressive, and maybe it won't work at all, but why complain when we still know very little about it?

I second Paris.

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More updates/info from the playhouse:

"They are auditioning for the roles now, but no offers have gone out as of yet. As far as reimagined, the production will be set in modern day, with an updated book and a new polish on the score. This will be environmental theatre, with the Mandell Weiss auditorium being completely transformed into modern NYC - scaffolding surrounding the seats, big projection screens, and a yellow brick road that goes right through the audience. As Des says, "It's going to rock."

I think he is searching for the right Dorothy, so I'm not sure if she will be African-American. The whole cast will be multi-cultural, not necessarily African-American solely.

Tickets will go on sale June 18."

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Updated On: 5/1/06 at 09:29 PM