L Frank Baum Jerry Robbins Adaptation Popular Books

L Frank Baum Jerry Robbins Adaptation Biography & Facts

The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) in the context of contemporary African-American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974, at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, and moved to Broadway's Majestic Theatre with a new cast on January 5, 1975. The 1975 Broadway production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It was an early example of Broadway's mainstream acceptance of works with an all-Black cast. It has had revivals in New York, London, San Diego, and the Netherlands, and a limited-run revival was presented by Encores! at New York City Center in June 2009. A big-budget film adaptation of the same name was released in 1978, with Ted Ross and Mabel King reprising their roles. A live television production of the stage version, The Wiz Live!, was broadcast on NBC on December 3, 2015, with an encore presentation on December 19 of the same year. Production history Development and Broadway The idea for the musical originated with producer Ken Harper. He replaced the original director, Gilbert Moses, with Geoffrey Holder in Detroit during out-of-town tryouts. As cast member André De Shields, who played the title role, later wrote, "It was Geoffrey's masterful people skills and embrace of magical realism that metamorphosed The Wiz from caterpillar to butterfly." The original Baltimore cast included Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, Stu Gilliam as the Scarecrow, Tiger Haynes as the Tin Man, Ted Ross as the Cowardly Lion, and Butterfly McQueen as the Queen of the Field Mice, but in a much smaller role. Renee C. Harris stayed on as understudy for the role of Dorothy, as did McQueen for the role of Addaperle. The production was choreographed by George Faison, with scenic designer Tom H. John, costumes by Geoffrey Holder, lighting by Tharon Musser, and orchestrations by Harold Wheeler. Faison and Holder both won Tony Awards for choreography and costume design, respectively in 1975. The show had a pre-Broadway tryout at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit in November 1974, and at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia from December 11, 1974, through December 21, 1974. After drawing mixed critical reviews, producer Ken Harper considered closing the musical after its Broadway opening night. One source attributes its turnaround success to a publicity campaign that included a TV commercial featuring the cast singing "Ease On Down the Road," a song that proved so popular that it was released as a single recorded by the disco group Consumer Rapport; The single hit the Billboard Soul Singles chart, peaking at #19 and the Hot 100, peaking at #42. William F. Brown, who wrote the book, gave a more specific explanation in 1993: "20th Century-Fox, the musical's major investor, put in another $100,000 to keep it going and everyone agreed to royalty cuts until the production's cost—about $1.1 million—was recouped....By the eighth week, we were selling out." The Broadway production moved to The Broadway Theatre on May 25, 1977, and closed on January 28, 1979, after four years and 1,672 performances. Along with other musicals including Purlie (1971) and Raisin (1974), The Wiz was a breakthrough for Broadway, a large-scale big-budget musical featuring an all-Black cast. It laid the foundation for later African-American hits such as Bubbling Brown Sugar, Dreamgirls and Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies. National tours and later revivals The musical toured the US in 1976 and during the tour, Kenneth Kamal Scott (then billed as "Kamal") replaced André De Shields as the Wiz, Renn Woods was cast as Dorothy but departed the tour after playing only a couple of cities because during the show's engagement at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, the 19-year-old performer was recruited for a featured part in the movie production of Hair. Renee C. Harris (who was in her very early 20s) took over as the tour's Dorothy and continued leading that company for a couple of years playing many engagements in cities across the country. At this time, the production also featured Ben Harney as the Tin Man and Ken Prymus as the Lion. Prymus was known to audiences for his featured role in the movie MASH (1970) for singing "Suicide is Painless." Both men were subsequently featured in other Broadway shows and were as replacements in the Broadway production of Ain't Misbehavin'. Harney also originated the leading role of Curtis in the Broadway debut of Dreamgirls. When Harris eventually departed the company, the tour continued with Deborah Malone in the role of Dorothy. There was also a second national touring company which was a scaled down production. This second tour opened with Malone reprising her role as Dorothy, who was later replaced by Lillias White. A revival ran on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre from May 24, 1984, through June 3, 1984, closing after 13 performances and 7 previews. Directed by Geoffrey Holder, the cast featured Stephanie Mills as Dorothy. It then ran in London at the Lyric Hammersmith from December 11, 1984, through February 2, 1985. A planned 2004 Broadway revival was not produced. In August 2015, George Faison presented The Wiz: A Celebration in Dance and Music, performances of the original songs and choreography in honor of the Broadway hits 40th Anniversary at Summerstage in New York City. A number of members of the original Broadway cast returned for this celebratory run. Actress Phylicia Rashad, a munchkin and swing in the original production, co-hosted the performance with George Faison. André De Shields reprised his original role as the Wiz; Dee Dee Bridgewater, Tony Award winner for her role as Glinda, reprised her original role; Evelyn Thomas reprised her original role as the Tornado and Ebony Jo-Ann who played Addaperle in the Broadway revival of the production reprised her role as well. Singer-songwriter Wallace Gary joined the cast as the Scarecrow. Damien L. Sneed acted as the musical director and conductor of The Wiz: A Celebration in Dance and Music. From 1996 to 1997 there was a US concert version tour with Tasha Scott as Dorothy, Grace Jones (Evillene), Peabo Bryson (The Wiz), and CeCe Peniston as Glinda. The cast also featured Tony Terry as the Tin Man. Romelda Benjamin also played Aunt Em. A North American tour, directed by Schele Williams with new material by Amber Ruffin, launched in the fall of 2023 in Baltimore with plans to transfer to Broadway for a limited engagement in spring 2024. The Broadway revival is scheduled to open at the Marquis Theatre on April 17, 2024 with previews beginning March 29, 2024. The tour will then resume performances beginning February 2025. Other productions An Australian production for J. C. Williamson Theatres Limited played in Melbourne and Sydney from January–October 1976; starring Andrea Frierson (Dorothy), Victor Willis (.... Discover the L Frank Baum Jerry Robbins Adaptation popular books. Find the top 100 most popular L Frank Baum Jerry Robbins Adaptation books.