The Wiz

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."[3]

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,[3] and at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia from December 11, 1974, through December 21, 1974.[4] 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;[5] The single hit the Billboard Soul Singles chart, peaking at #19 and the Hot 100, peaking at #42.[6]

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."[7]

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.[8]

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.

The musical toured the US in 1976[9] and during the tour, Kenneth Kamal Scott (then billed as "Kamal") replaced Andre DeShields 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.[10]

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.[11] A planned 2004 Broadway revival[12] was not produced.[13]

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 this 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. [14]

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.

An Australian production for J. C. Williamson Theatres Limited played in Melbourne and Sydney from January–October 1976; starring Andrea Frierson (Dorothy), Victor Willis (Tin Man), Freddie Paris (Lion), Chuck McKinney (The Wiz) and Robert Ellis (Scarecrow). Upon his return from Australia in late 1976, Victor Willis joined the cast of the original Broadway production.[15]

Flymonkey Productions (London, UK) ran two shows. The first one was in 2000 which received great reviews and a second was run the following year in 2001 receiving exceptional reviews from the London press. Both productions were run at the Hackney Empire. The 2001 show was particularly notable because it was the last show to be performed at the Hackney Empire before the theatre closed its doors for refurbishment. Both shows were directed by Jamie Hinde; musical director Steve White (both shows); production manager Andy Barnes (both shows); choreography by Suzannah Howlett (2000) and Juliet Vibert (2001, also appeared as a dancer in both shows). The production starred Tamsier Joof (both shows); Rustie Lee (both shows); Sharon D. Clarke (2000), Victoria Wilson-James (2001), and Kat of MTV (both shows).[16][17]

A production ran at the La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego, from September 26, 2006, through November 12, 2006, receiving good reviews and extending its run by three weeks. It was directed by Des McAnuff, who, with Harold Wheeler, orchestrator of the original Broadway version, revised the musical for contemporary audiences. It starred Nikki M. James (Dorothy), E. Faye Butler (Evelline) and David Alan Grier (The Wiz), and featured sets by Robert Brill.[18][19]

Dodger Productions holds U.S. rights to revive the musical, while Joop Van den Ende's Stage Entertainment holds the European rights.[20] Stage Entertainment mounted a full-scale production at the Beatrix Theater in Utrecht, Netherlands, in 2006. The production was directed by Glenn Casale and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast and featured sets by David Gallo.[20]

City Center's Encores! Summer Stars series production ran June 12 through July 5, 2009. The production was directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler. It starred Ashanti as Dorothy, Tichina Arnold as Evillene, Dawnn Lewis as Addapearl, Joshua Henry as the Tin Man, James Monroe Iglehart as the Lion, Orlando Jones (succeeded by Colman Domingo) as The Wiz, and LaChanze as Aunt Em and Glinda.[21]

A major British revival of the musical was produced in 2011 by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (however performed at the New Alexandra Theatre due to The REP's refurbishment)[22] in a co-production with the West Yorkshire Playhouse, re-locating Kansas to present day Birmingham[23] This production was directed by Josette Bushell-Mingo, with choreography by Paul J. Medford.

The first German-speaking production was produced in Linz/Austria in the new Musiktheater Linz,[24] directed and choreographed by Kim Duddy.

The Fiddlehead Theatre Company, in the historic Strand Theatre in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, mounted a production, directed by Stacey Stephens, Fiddlehead Theatre Company's Associate Producing Artistic Director, in February 2015.[25]

A production ran at The Muny from June 19–25, 2018. It starred Nathan Lee Graham as The Wiz, James T. Lane as Tinman, Darius de Haas as Lion, Demetria McKinney as Glinda, and newcomers Danyel Fulton and Jared Grimes as Dorothy and Scarecrow, respectively. It was directed by Denis Jones and choreographed by Camille A. Brown.[26]

The Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester mounted a production that ran from November 24, 2021, until January 16, 2022,[27] with the cast including Tarik Frimpong as The Scarecrow. The production was recorded and streamed as an encore production, and performances from it were broadcast by the BBC as part of Big Night of Musicals by the National Lottery.[28]

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.[29] The Broadway revival is scheduled to open at the Marquis Theatre on April 17, 2024 with previews beginning March 29, 2024.[30]

A Mexican production is scheduled to run in June 2023 at Teatro Hidalgo in Mexico City. Produced by Juan Torres and directed by Ricardo Díaz. The show is choreographed by Pablo Rodríguez and set design by Oscar Acosta. The show will be led by Mexican young star Lucero Mijares who makes her theatre debut as Dorothy.

Motown Productions acquired the film rights to The Wiz in 1977 and signed Stephanie Mills in anticipation of having her star as Dorothy in the film adaptation. Motown singer and actress Diana Ross asked Motown CEO Berry Gordy to cast her instead, but he declined, feeling that the then-33-year-old Ross was far too old for the part. However, she contacted Rob Cohen of Universal Pictures, who offered to have them finance the film if she were to play Dorothy, at which point he acquiesced.

The resulting film version of The Wiz also starred former Motown star Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man, Richard Pryor as the Wizard, jazz singer Thelma Carpenter as Miss One (the name "Addapearle" was not used for this production) and Lena Horne as Glinda. Ross and King reprised their roles of the Lion and Evillene from the Broadway production respectively. Sidney Lumet served as director, working with screenwriter Joel Schumacher (who used none of Brown's stage script) and music supervisor Quincy Jones. The film was a critical and commercial failure, performing poorly at the box office and severely panned by critics, who branded the casting of Ross instead of Mills as Dorothy a disastrous blunder.[31][32]

In 1998, following their TV-movie production of Cinderella (1997), producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron began pre-production on a TV-movie adaptation of The Wiz for The Wonderful World of Disney, which was to star a then-unknown Anika Noni Rose as Dorothy. The project fell through due to Universal still having the film rights to adaptations of The Wiz, and the production was shelved.[33] The O.Z., a hip-hop re-adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with an all-Black cast that was to use original music rather than adapt The Wiz, was then planned by FOX and director Chris Stokes in the early 2000s.[34] With Brandy, Queen Latifah, Patti LaBelle, Busta Rhymes, and Little Richard among its planned cast,[35][34] the telefilm ultimately went un-produced; FOX instead became a co-producer on The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005), starring Ashanti as Dorothy and Latifah as Aunt Em.

Eleven years later, following the production of two live musicals for NBC – The Sound of Music Live! (2013) and Peter Pan Live! (2014) – Zadan and Meron announced The Wiz Live! as their next production (NBC, by this point, having purchased Universal Studios).[33] NBC's live performance of the stage show aired on December 3, 2015.[36] Stephanie Mills, who originated the role of Dorothy on Broadway, played Aunt Em.[37] An open casting call for the role of Dorothy took place on June 6, 2015.[38] In July 2015, Queen Latifah was cast as the Wiz and Mary J. Blige was confirmed to play the role of Evillene.[39] In addition, Beyoncé was offered to play Glinda, but no deal was made.[40] The following month, David Alan Grier was cast as the Cowardly Lion, and newcomer Shanice Williams was chosen to play Dorothy.[41][42] Uzo Aduba played Glinda and Amber Riley portrayed Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North.[43] Other principal cast-members included Elijah Kelley as the Scarecrow, Ne-Yo as the Tin Man, and Common as the Bouncer, the gatekeeper of the entrance to Emerald City.[44]

The orchestra calls for 2 keyboards, 2 guitars, electric bass, drums, percussion, 2 trumpets, trombone, 2 woodwinds and a 5-piece chorus (4 male and 1 female). The first keyboard is played by the conductor. One guitarist plays lead while the other guitarist plays rhythm. The first woodwind player doubles on tenor and alto saxophones and flute while the second one doubles on tenor, alto and baritone saxophones and flute.

All numbers composed by Charlie Smalls save for the following: "Tornado" is composed by Timothy Graphenreed and Harold Wheeler. "Emerald City Ballet (Psst)" is composed by Graphenreed and George Faison. "Everybody Rejoice/A Brand New Day" is composed by Luther Vandross. The song "Wonder, Wonder, Why" was added for the 1984 Broadway revival, but is not part of the current licensed score.[46]

In his review of the 1984 revival, Frank Rich wrote: "What made The Wiz surprisingly moving the first time around was that its creators found a connection between Baum's Kansas fantasy and the pride of urban Black Americans. When Glinda, the good witch, musically instructed Dorothy to 'believe in herself,' she seemed to be delivering a broader inspirational message. The Wiz was hardly a great musical in 1975, but it had something to say, and it said it with verve and integrity. It's depressing to watch a once-fervent expression of Black self-respect and talent be spilled on the stage as if it were a trunkload of marked-down, damaged goods."[47]

In their review of the 2006 La Jolla production, Variety wrote: "'The Wiz' remains a collage of contemporary slang and imagery, but La Jolla's is a multicultural collage in which Baum's themes speak to the broadest possible audience. Unquestionably, the humor and the heartbeat of the piece remain African-American at their source, but the overall effect is pluralistic and inclusive. In the truest and most positive sense of the phrase, McAnuff's show is color-blind. Every alteration from the 1975 original, inspired by the central multicultural concept, is salutary. Brown's almost wholly rewritten script is tart and funny at last. Smalls' score—supervised by musical director Ron Melrose and original orchestrator Harold Wheeler—sounds fresh and contemporary".[48]

As critic Peter Filichia wrote in 2015, "Arguably more impressive is Stephen Sondheim's opinion. Whenever he's asked for a favorite show that he didn't write, he immediately says The Wiz. What?! With all its false rhymes?! 'Because,' he always says, 'it's the one show which makes you feel better when you come out of it than you did when you walked in.'"[49]

The Wiz The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard Of Oz"
Cast recording by Various Artists
Released	1975
Recorded	1975
Genre	R&B, soul, pop
Length	45:03
Label	Atlantic SD 18137
Producer	Jerry Wexler
Singles from The Wiz The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard Of Oz"
"Tornado" Released: 1975

The Original Cast Recording for The Wiz was released in 1975 on the Atlantic label, produced by Jerry Wexler. While well received, the album omits several key songs from the musical that were not recorded for the album- such as the show's overture, dance and accompaniment music. The "Tornado" instrumental was released as both a 7" single and a 12" extended single, while the show's musical arranger Harold Wheeler co-produced a cover of "Ease on Down the Road" with studio group Consumer Rapport that became a charting single in 1975, peaking at #42 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6]

In 2017, the original Broadway cast recording of The Wiz was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."[50]

• The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)—other adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Wiz.

• ​The Wiz​ (1975) at the Internet Broadway Database
• ​The Wiz​ (1984) at the Internet Broadway Database
• The Wiz: a virtual coffee table book
• The Wiz plot and production information at GuideToMusicalTheatre.com
• "Cast members discuss The Wiz, based on L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz", an October 20, 1978 episode of WGBH's Slices of Black Theatre
• The Wiz collection, 1974–1979 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.
• Charlie Smalls scores for The Wiz, 1974 Music Division, The New York Public Library.