The Wiz to be revived

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 2:59pm

i read the wiz broadway revival opens in 2005. i'm guessing maybe since the hype of wicked they decided to revive it...i'm kinda looking forward to seeing the show revived..i hope they give it a more to date sound.

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:01pm

I am excited to see this show but they need to tweak the music! The music in this show is boring and not very exciting at all. I only watch the movie for the visual and for Michael Jackson.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:01pm

They were gonna revive this before Wicked came along.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:01pm

It's been in the works for a loooooooong time. Nothing to do with Wicked at all.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:04pm

Watching The Wiz for Michael Jackson???

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!!!

And you like The Civil War!

Now it's beginning to make sense.....

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:05pm

and maybe they can get Diana Ross to play Dorothy (KIDDING)

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:05pm

since i am going to be corrected probably several more times..i was just guessing..ok it was going to be revived before wicked..i gotcha.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:07pm

Michael Jackson? ::shudders::

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:08pm

Listen up Mister Matt.

If you forget that CIVIL WAR was ever a stage musical and just try to listen to a great country/pop album, it is OUTSTANDING!!!

Am I the only only one who likes Michael Jackson? DO you realize how popular his music is? Just because he's been in the press lately for other reasons does not take away his career.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:09pm

No problem, musicalfandukie. You didn't know. It is just funny for us because we have talked about it many times.

Updated On: 8/5/04 at 03:09 PM

[ontheT]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:11pm

kinda off subject but i'm in a production of the wiz this weekend.

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:12pm

i always seem slow on getting new broadway news on here..lol Updated On: 8/5/04 at 03:12 PM

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:13pm

I never said anything about his music.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:16pm

How popular his music WAS. He hasn't had a hit album in 15 years in this country (the "Bad" album). The last one cost Sony over $30 million and barely sold a million copies and yielded not a single hit song (it would have been more cost effective to simply pay people $20 a piece to just take the damn thing). His career in America is washed up and has been for a very, very long time.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:21pm

My point was that of all the reasons to watch The Wiz, Michael Jackson has to be one of the weakest. He wasn't particularly good. He barely sang or danced and his acting was awful.

It is hard to forget that The Civil War was a stage "musical" (concert or review, actually) if you witnessed it. I do think there are a few good songs, but by the time you get to the second CD, they all start sounding the same. Wildhorn had much better work in Jekyll and Hyde and The Scarlet Pimpernel. The Civil War CD is good, but not "outstanding".

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:29pm

WICKED I don't think would have any direct interference with THE WIZ's success. THE BOY FROM OZ survived-- even though the title is in direct relation with Dorothy's OZ, not Australia.

I think that Michael Jackson's performance in THE WIZ was worth watching it... his "You Can't Win" that was written for him is the standout in the score (besides "Ease on Down..." and "Home"). I hope that if they do revive THE WIZ, they cut "Born the Day Before..." and replace it with "You Can't Win". Great song-- and Michael Jackson still is popular to still be recognized as an International Superstar. Only because the United States tends to brand someone before any true evidence is prsented is the reason Michael Jackson is no longer THE recording artist of the U.S... Slander can ruin someone's life-- Michael Jackson is proof.

Updated On: 8/5/04 at 03:29 PM

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:35pm

I'm hoping that Anika Noni Rose will be cast as Dorothy - she is so amazing in Caroline or Change.

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:43pm

I'd also like to see La Chance play Dorothy, but I fear she is not the right age...

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:46pm

you fear correctly, however, she could sing the hell out of it.
andrew lippa is writing new music and apparently "tweaking" some songs...while Lippa writes fine music - i feel the main POINT of the Wiz will be lost

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:47pm

Shasha Allen as Dorothy...PLEASE

Akiva

[crp2000]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:58pm

RedHot-
Funny you should mention Anika! She'd be GREAT for the role!!
Did you know that she was actually set to play Dorothy in the made-for-television remake of "The Wiz" back in the 90's?? Unfortunately, the project never took off.

**Got this info from either PlayBill or Broadway dot com.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 4:12pm

You Can't Win was the most boring sequence in the film. Michael singing on a pole while the crows kind of jump around him. The original song, I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday is a much stronger song. You Can't Win might have been written for Michael, but he wasn't that big of a celebrity at the time. He was known as the child star from The Jackson Five, but his solo career didn't take off for a few more years after The Wiz.

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 4:14pm

here's to hoping that the revival cast will be MUCH better than the movie version...

Hinton Battle must have been great in the original production - if only i had been around to see it

[J.J.]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 4:18pm

The Dodgers are producing. They're shooting for the spring season - depending on Des (Their choice of director)'s schedule.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 4:18pm

"andrew lippa is writing new music and apparently "tweaking" some songs...while Lippa writes fine music - i feel the main POINT of the Wiz will be lost"

Not really. Remember who wrote Dreamgirls?