The Wiz returning to Bway in 2023 after National Tour - Page 8

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 9/24/23 at 5:38pm

The show is being done on a SETA contract. It is a low budget tour.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 9/24/23 at 6:14pm

The SET Agreement no longer exists. There is now one unified Touring Contract.

[alovingfan]

Posted: 9/24/23 at 7:52pm

The Wiz is just not a good show.  But having said that.. I think people will have fun at this revival. The 70's vibe is great.  I wish they had taken it a little further. The singing is sensational and a new cast recording would be a definite purchase for me.  . The dancing was fun and one of the highlights.  Needs to be focused and brought in a little. 

The set and costumes are cheap as is the entire production value.  I am so sick of videos and screens.  They should have used flat sets and given in to the 70's vibe.  The performers are uneven.  If they can sing they can't act.. and vice versa.  I did love Dorothy.   Cox does nothing for me.  She is flat and dull.  

Lots of fun for a traveling show.  They are smart in hitting the road first and making their money that way.  I would see it if it plays near you.  My flight out of here is delayed.  WIsh I had the new cast recording to listen too.  I will write more thoughts later.   Boarding my flight for home.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/24/23 at 10:52pm

alovingfan said: "The Wiz is just not a good show. But having said that.. "

 

Well that is a matter of opinion. I love the show.

 

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 9/25/23 at 12:20am

Further thoughts...After friends and I talked for hours and studied the playbill...The sets are by the woman who did Black Panther and the costumes are by the woman who did the films of Dreamgirls and Ray.   We loved them, especially the costumes for The Emerald City and the Munchkins, which was a whole New Orleans thing.   The whole production moves swiftly and is cinematic because of an amazing video wall -- some of the most incredible projections.  The colors throughout are beautiful and the forest is dark and foreboding.  After Dorothy's house cracks open and flies off the stage, the tornado is danced in smoke and in front of the screen and it's amazing -- got huge applause.   I can't say enough about the talent and the voices.   Seems that most of them are relatively new to theater or are young in their careers and whomever cast this show deserves a special Tony.    Evilene stopped the show with "No Bad News" which is given a huge production on her enormous castle, and the place went nuts.   Same when the Poppies danced out of the castle.   In thinking about it, we all thought some of the biggest credit goes to Amber Ruffin who redid the book and the characters, and the jokes are often surprising and funny.   We kept coming up with lines that killed.  She also finds interesting themes and ideas for Dorothy and three guys which make you think.   Overall, it was really exciting, and I recommend it highly.   I think the audience was very happy as it left.   

[BroadwaysBroad]

Posted: 9/25/23 at 7:01am

On a train to New York 

just saw it / wow!!!!! Firing on all cylinders.

found out it’s going into the marquis 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/25/23 at 8:30am

Coming to Broadway March 2024 - Marquis Theatre.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CxnVx9qO1dU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/25/23 at 8:51am

To be fair, we haven't really seen much in the way of pictures besides when the cast is down center. 

That said, the show is built to tour first, so it's not going to be a huge high budget thing. It's only playing a few weeks here and there so they aren't doing these huge long sitdowns, so the show could play very differently on Broadway when they can build it into the theater a bit more.

[quizking101]

Posted: 9/25/23 at 9:05am

bwayphreak234 said: "Coming to Broadway March 2024 - Marquis Theatre.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CxnVx9qO1dU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA=="

Maybe the Marquis might possibly have a hit on their hands, but they also stress it’s a limited engagement and since the cast will have been doing it a year by the time they close, I can’t imagine they will extend a huge amount barring the show bringing in big bucks.

Granted, the last tour to Marquis transfer was Jekyll & Hyde…with Deborah Cox. I truly hope this has FAR better fortunes.

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 9/25/23 at 9:49am

The Wiz would be better re thought as a concert revue and you cut the book entirely and make the fantastic songs the entire thing. Everyone knows what happens in The Wizard of Oz, why make us go through book scenes? Don't the songs speak for themselves? Why can't it be a tight one act of all of the songs?

The problem with The Wiz is the plot of The Wizard of Oz is a drag to watch onstage cause it's a road trip with set piece moving on, set piece moving off and you are five steps ahead the whole time. It's just bland. The '39 movie is untouchable in telling this story clearly cause we've never seen Hollywood take real strides to remake it or NY has never seen a big revival based on the movie.

 

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 9/25/23 at 10:04am

Do they have actors playing the yellow brick road ?

[jagman1062]

Posted: 9/25/23 at 1:06pm

rattleNwoolypenguin said: 
The problem with The Wiz is the plot of The Wizard of Oz is a drag to watch onstage cause it's a road trip with set piece moving on, set piece moving off and you are five steps ahead the whole time. It's just bland. The '39 movie is untouchable in telling this story clearly cause we've never seen Hollywood take real strides to remake it or NY has never seen a big revival based on the movie.

Having seen the original Broadway production, I have to agree that the show can be a bit of a drag. I was bored with the first act (although the tornado scene was staged tremendously well) because of my familiarity with the story and the slow pace of each scene. The second act was much better and more enjoyable. If they tightened up the first act, I can see the show being a hit again. It did run for at least 3 years in the 70s.
"

 

[DAME]

Posted: 9/25/23 at 2:25pm

Funny.  I have been reading some mostly very negative things sprinkled with some great things..  Time will tell.  After everyone raved about Beanie on this board after her first preview ...  I just don't trust anyone.  Most  of the reviews here; good or bad could have been written without seeing anything.  The general consensus I get on social media is that as a whole people are over the use of projections.  The Wiz has a special place in my heart.  Saw the original as a child with my dad and remember having a great time.  But I have seen some productions over the years and I must say that I agree with the person that said that it is just not a good show.  Just a matter of opinion. That doesn't mean it is not a guilty pleasure.  I will be seeing it soon.  Expectations are low.  I hope I love it.  I hope everyone does.  

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 10/8/23 at 3:53pm

Per a social media post by the local presenter, Playhouse Square, this afternoon's matinee in Cleveland was canceled "Due to a medical emergency with one of the principal cast members."

As of now they say "Tonight's evening performance is scheduled to go on as planned."

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/8/23 at 5:31pm

sbflyfan said: "Per a social media post by the local presenter, Playhouse Square, this afternoon's matinee in Cleveland was canceled "Due to a medical emergency with one of the principal cast members."

As of now they say "Tonight's evening performance is scheduled to go on as planned.""

Odd, I'd assume the understudies are rehearsed by now?

[Musigamist]

Posted: 10/8/23 at 10:41pm

I caught Tuesday night's opening in Cleveland, and it was a bit of a mess from the get-go; the performers persevered, but it was obvious that show hasn't finished finding its sea legs yet. House doors didn't open until curtain time because they were still doing some tech work, and the curtain was then delayed 35 minutes. Schele Williams came out to apologize; she said it was because it was the first theater change of the tour and load-in took longer than expanded. During the first act, the lights both over and for stage left consistently weren't working and a section of the stage right speaker bank wasn't either. Intermission went about 25 minutes, so about 10 extra minutes. Curtain went up at 8:03 and the show concluded about 10:38. Various other things were a touch off such as the false floor being off center and being at a slight angle to the house. If you're curious, based on the dance numbers and the size of the proscenium, the used stage width is approx. 36'.

The performances from all of the leads were pretty much spot on, and the crowd seemed to really enjoy the jokes, and applauded rapturously throughout. The ensemble's choreography was not tight, and there were multiple times when they were very obviously not be in sync during the ensemble dance numbers and were bumping into one another.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Yes, this is built to tour, so the set reflects that: a two-piece house in Kansas, two facades for the witches in Munchkin land, a gate for Oz (flown in), a prop throne for the Wiz, and Evillene's throne/prison make up the main pieces. They rest on 4 tracks, two upstage and two downstage. Those pieces have no "features" meaning that they are painted to have shingles, siding, etc. The stage is framed by four levels of black and white drops to add depth, but also to narrow the stage down to fit what's being used. The forest is made of four or five flats that fly back and forth during the road scenes through the forest. To answer a previous question, yes, there are performers who are guides with the yellow hats for the road, and there's also yellow rectangles of light to create the road. The video wall actually added to the set and I surprisingly enjoyed it most of the time. The one time the entire audience groaned about it was the transition into the poppy field scene that looked like a C-rate Barbie cartoon of a magical land (If you've endured one of those, you'll know what I mean).

Even with the issues, I still walked out with a smile humming "Brand New Day," so it did leave an impression. And it's a one night anecdote, but the audience was probably among the most diverse I've seen for a show in Cleveland, so that's promising. Will it sell at the Marquis? I guess we'll see.

 

Updated On: 10/8/23 at 10:41 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/9/23 at 1:52am

Can someone please post the song list? I’m curious to know which songs are in and which songs got cut. Every revival of The Wiz is different.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 10/9/23 at 1:30pm

The most significant thing I've heard so far is that "You Can't Win" has replaced "I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday" again. Other than that, no intel.

Updated On: 10/9/23 at 01:30 PM

[sarcadam88]

Posted: 10/9/23 at 2:27pm

I Was Born… has been shifted to Act 2 (where Wonder Wonder Why has also been restored).

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 10/9/23 at 2:31pm

sarcadam88 said: "I Was Born… has been shifted to Act 2 (where Wonder Wonder Why has also been restored)."

Woah !!!…

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/9/23 at 2:45pm

sarcadam88 said: "I Was Born… has been shifted to Act 2 (where Wonder Wonder Why has also been restored)."

Is that a recent addition? There’s a playbill from Baltimore on eBay that doesn’t list “I Was Born On the Day Before Yesterday.” Who wrote “We’re Gonna Make It?” Is that another cut song or a new song? Or is that a reworking of “…Born?”

Updated On: 10/9/23 at 02:45 PM

[dan94]

Posted: 10/9/23 at 4:24pm

"We're Gonna Make It" is a reworking of Born. 

Was also there for the first Cleveland performance and echo the above thoughts. I would add:

It does not look expensive but I do not think that is the biggest problem here. The choreographer either massively ran out of time or needs to be replaced. There is an exciting Emerald City Ballet and a fun (although long) dance break in Y'all Got It. That is about it. The rest of the choreography seems to be lacking in ideas and clumsy busy work. There are Yellow Brick Road Guides, but they mostly stand on the sides of the stage doing very little. The two dance pieces that worked seemed to be removed from plot. This choreographer does not seem to have figured out what they want to do with narrative dance.

The tornado needs to be rethought from top to bottom. None of the design elements worked here, and neither did the dance. 

The new book is a MASSIVE improvement, although it needs a little tightening. Evillene also needs to be scarier/that section needs higher stakes.

I have to say I really enjoyed myself. It was one of the most joyful evenings I've spent in the theatre, even with the shortcomings. The cast is extremely talented and personable. Nichelle Lewis seems to be a real 'find'. I hope they continue to improve, because there are a lot of good things happening on that stage. The pieces just haven't come together at this early date.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 10/9/23 at 8:54pm

I'm hearing it's been done very cheaply and tacky looking (costumes sets) and very sloppy and that's not just the choreography.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/9/23 at 9:10pm

How does “Be a Lion” work as the act one finale? Is there a scene after it or does the curtain just fall on the song? It doesn’t seem as dramatic as ending the first act with the scene with the Wizard.

[dan94]

Posted: 10/11/23 at 4:53pm

Robbie2 said: "I'm hearing it's been done very cheaply and tacky looking (costumes sets) and very sloppy and that's not just the choreography."

It's true it's not just the choreography. But the choreo is what is stopping the show from being an unadulterated talent showcase where you can overlook some of the visual elements.

Visually the show is better than I expected (I didn't expect a lot). It does look cheap at times. But there are some decent visual ideas. There are moments you notice how cheap it is rather than the cheapness being a constant thought, if that makes sense.

Be A Lion does work as an act closer. 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

The first half of the song with Dorothy happens pretty normally. Then there are a few lines of dialogue where they see the Emerald City in the distance. Dorothy and Lion section of the song happens. Then all 4 characters layer in which takes us to intermission.