And, JMoss, did you actually *see* the original? How can you say "100000000 X" better than La Jolla when you have no idea what you're talking about. It seems to me that you're of the "new is good, old is bad" mentality. That statement alone makes it clear that you only know the production from the cast recording and a few cropped down photos in books.
Had you seen the original, seen the staging and artistry that went into it, seen the beauty of the Tornado Ballet, the beauty of the costumes onstage in color in person, the glamour of it...you would not be saying that.
Having seen film of the original production, knowing several of the creative team, seeing photographs that are not available to the general public...I can tell you 100% that the La Jolla staging comes nowhere NEAR close to the original.
How can you say that a revised production that ignores the very concept on which the show was conceived is better than the original? An original production is going to be superior 99.99% of the time. The reason being is that when a show is conceived and goes through its original design and casting phases, the material is written to suit the original cast's talents and strengths, the physical production is conceived and executed and the script is trimmed and rewritten to suit it.
Look at Dreamgirls, the artistic team was designing the sets and costumes as the show was being written and workshopped. That's why the majority of major productions use Bennett's design and staging. It's completely intertwined with the story. Not to mention the fact that the cast improvised the dialogue and Tom Eyen wrote it down. Jennifer Holliday will always be Effie, no matter how many people with similar names play the role in film or onstage.
As far as The Wiz:
1) Geoffrey Holder designed the inital costumes in 1973, before funding was even secured and over a year before the Baltimore premiere. Those drawings (which outlined how characters were to look, move and act) influenced the funding, which influenced the writing, which influenced the final design.
2) Andre De Shields' audition made William Brown change the character of the Wiz from a bumbling sound effects man at a television station to a glam rocker/evangelist...because of the performer.
3) The Tornado Ballet *itself* will demonstrate the quality and the ingenuity and beauty of the original production. The Tin Man's design. The Munchkin costumes. The Funky Monkeys ballet, the Yellow Brick Road as dancers. All of these influenced the script.
Everything in the original is better than tacked-on modern references, hammy acting, silly color-blind casting that flies in the face of the concept of the piece, and DREADFUL set and costume design.
JMoss, you need to defend your statement, because you are so wrong, so utterly misinformed, so off the mark, so completely out of the ballpark...actually, if a ballpark were reality, your opinion would be across the parking lot in the garbage-strewn vacant lot across the street. You have no idea what you're talking about.
Updated On: 3/16/07 at 10:23 AM
