The Wiz at a ... white HS

[jam_man]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 2:19pm

Last weekend, our high school theatre director announced that our spring musical next year was to be The Wiz. Personally, I'm graduating this year, but I'm still wondering about that idea. I mean, we have a few black actors, but... (how should I put this), only one of them has much "funk" - and frankly, she's not a great singer. And some of the best seniors-to-be don't fit The Wiz's mold whatsoever.

Granted, it's not the first time we've done something along those lines. My freshman year, we did Once on this Island, but the whole exsistance of The Wiz is based on the "funk-i-ness."

Any thoughts?

[Cages or Wings]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 2:25pm

Though not ideal, it certainly can work with a white cast. Just as OOTI can. In fact I feel like having black actors is more important for OOTI than it is for The Wiz, but that could just be me.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 2:27pm

I know of at least 5 high schools on Long Island that have done the Wiz in the past few years. Not uncommon, to me at least.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 2:36pm

My High School did it about 5 years ago with an all white cast.

I thought it was a bore, and it wasn't because of the cast.

[LostLeander]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 2:36pm

There is no reason why The Wiz can't be done by an all white cast.

I equate The Wiz to say, Kiss Me, Kate, or Oklahoma.
It was written with white people in mind, but has nothing to do with race, whatsoever.

If you can sing it/act it, then you can do it.

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 3:03pm

I am usually against it. I saw OOTI with an all white cast and it sucked. But I think that "The Wiz" could totally work if you have the right people.

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 3:03pm

double

Updated On: 5/19/07 at 03:03 PM

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 3:07pm

A white, high-school production of "The Wiz" usually makes for an excellent bad time.

[MungoGypsy8232]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 4:15pm

Our cast of Aida was white, our Aida was good, but she lacked the soul of a hardcore Aida diva
Updated On: 5/19/07 at 04:15 PM

[Broadwayboy2631]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 4:27pm

Aida should not be done with an all white cast because it is about race, but The Wiz has nothing to do with race. I've been in an almost all white Wiz, and it worked!

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 4:35pm

>> Aida should not be done with an all white cast because it is about race

That's a pretty generalized statement, doncha think?

[EdmundOG]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 4:44pm

The Wiz/Kiss me Kate comparison is a perfect comparison. As for Aida, unless the Egyptians are being played by Arabs, there's no reason to complain about a white Aida.

[John3]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 5:34pm

I did The Wiz at my highschool back when I was a freshman, wow that was a long while ago.

[WordedGrace]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 6:44pm

If have seen some very soul lite productions of The Wiz and the music just doesn't lend itself to those kind of productions. Sorry to say that but everytime I see an white production I cringe at the arrangements and the lack of well, soul, LOL. You should ask them to do a simpler show.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 6:46pm

geez... i hate this discussion but i'll say what i always say... there are so rare roles out there for minorities to play... and to see a role that is generally played by minorities being played by white people is kinda annoying... and i hate that argument of "well if a minority can play a white role then there shouldn't be complaints" is not a good argument... people's train of thinking can be so annoying at times... but i guess that's something i've learned to deal with... that's just the rules of society i guess...

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 7:51pm

LostLeander-
Um, sorry "The Wiz" was WRITTEN for BLACK people. Originally it was to be the first in a series of All-Black discofyed Fairy Tales for ABC or CBS (I forget which), that ended up outgrowing an hour long show to become what it is now. I don't know where the hell you heard that it was written with white people in mind, but it sure wasn't. To top THAT off, have you read the script? It's filled with jive, which always sounds bad coming out of a white person's mouth.

[Trekkie2]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 8:17pm

Yeah, last night my High School announced The Wiz for next year, and we have maybe 2 black people in theater. Which equals a lot of white people swaying awkwardly from side to side and snapping.

[caitlinette]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 12:22am

Sorry, what's OOTI?

[C is for Company]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 12:30am

Once on this Island. That I think would be less appropriate to do than The Wiz. Out of OOTI, Wiz, and Aida mentioned thus far, I think the Wiz is the best bet if you only have an all white cast.

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 12:33am

I did The Wiz with an all white class in middle school. Not uncommon at all. Not that big of a deal either.

Don't even bring up AIDA. They had white people playing the Egyptians. How many Egyptians do you know who are as white as Adam Pascal? That sounds like a really awfully unintelligent thing to say. But it's true. Egyptians are Arabic. That's just the way it is.

I saw a production of AIDA where it was an all-white class, and the different races (Nubian versus Egyptian) were implied based on the colors the actors wore. Nubians wore purple and Egpytians wore blue. Small things like a headband or a skirt. But still. I understood it, as did the rest of the audience. You can make those things work.

But you can't have an all white cast of RAGTIME. That is a show that can't work with that cast. Once On This Island? Yup. Porgy and Bess? Not so much.


Edit: And as for the "jive" thing mentioned before: I agree but when I did it in middle school it sounded more cute than anything else. We weren't trying to be Michael Jackson. I sang the "as soon as I get home" song like the white girl I am. It works if you don't TRY to sound like you're embodying (WOW! sp?? sorry!) what the character really is supposed to be.

Updated On: 5/20/07 at 12:33 AM

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 12:40am

Ok sorry to make myself understood more (because I didn't really get my own post), it is true that The Wiz was written for a black cast. Once On This Island was written for a black cast. But I think that at the high school level, if it's done correctly and you don't try to have a white girl singing Dreamgirls the way it was originally performed, it can work.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 1:30am

White people doing jive = not cute.

Granted, I do come from an area, where one season the predominantly black school did "Fiddler on the Roof" and the rich white school did "The Wiz" (I SWEAR the liberettos got switched in the mail)

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 1:41am

i don't see the problem with it. The way i see it is it's a high school production it really shouldn't be taken all that serious.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 8:05am

>> Um, sorry "The Wiz" was WRITTEN for BLACK people

So?

Get over it. A year from now, no one but the parents will even remember it happened.

Otherwise, I'll be forced to remind you that CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF was written for WHITE people, and Lizzie Currie was writen for a WHITE actress, and I really dont think you want to go there.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 9:30am

SeanMartin-
There's a difference. When "The Wiz" was written, it was difficult for African Americans in show business (much more so than now). During that time period, it was required that each show have one minority in the cast. ONE. This was actually a basis for a song in "Chorus Line" (That was later cut), between Connie and Richie about that. Consequently, because they really could not be cast, they had to write their own musicals, and produce all-black versions of what was already around. That's why there was the Pearl Bailey "Dolly" or the Ken Page "Guys and Dolls."
"110 in the Shade" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" are not built around race, and that's where the difference comes in. "The Wiz" is all about the African American sensibility in a pretty much white fairy tale.
You are totally welcome to disagree, but that's just my feelings on the matter.