Oz in the news 5.5.24

5 Big Takeaways from the New Broadway Revival of ‘The Wiz’

If You Only Know the Movie Version, This Is the Original Story – Just don’t expect to see Toto or Munchkins on stage. Or those creepy subway puppets from the movie.

One of the Movie Songs Is Now in the Musical -The original first song for the Scarecrow, “I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday,” was replaced in the movie by “You Can’t Win,” performed by Michael Jackson. This new staging, which began with last year’s tour, includes the latter song performed buoyantly by Avery Wilson.

Some of the Musical Elements Have Been Modernized -Notably in the first act, the Tin Man’s number “Slide Some Oil to Me” has a more hip-hop flavor, while another scene features a New Orleans dance line. The opening medley at the top of the second act, “Meet the Wizard,” includes a trap-dance sequence after the Wiz insists on seeing his citizens do something new.

The Show Has a Lot of Razzle-Dazzle to It – Some media have criticized the new production for going full-on with very colorful visuals and a big sound. But the audience that American Songwriter watched it with appreciated the spectacle, which included some impressive video environments from Daniel Brodie, dynamic choreography courtesy of JaQuel Knight, and striking set pieces from Hannah Beachler.

One Can Never Tire of “Ease on Down the Road” – The peppy signature song of The Wiz is fun to see performed onstage. Even though it emerges three times in Act I and at least one more time in Act II, it always clicks. In the first act there is a New Orleans version of “Ease on Down,” and the second act features a slower variant. It’s funny how a song about easing along is so insistently danceable.

Oz in the News 3.7.24

Inside the Triumphant Return of ‘The Wiz’

Deborah Cox: “I was most excited with “He’s the Wiz,” because originally Glinda never sang any other songs outside of “Believe in Yourself.” I always felt like Glinda’s presence is hope and faith. She’s everything that you want to be in your heart, and she’s manifested through Dorothy’s belief. During “He’s The Wiz,” there are moments where there’s a call-and-answer with the cast. Working with Joseph [Joubert, music supervisor], I felt like that was a moment to really add camaraderie and display all the different types of jazz, because we hit on different styles of music.

That is the moment that I really take pleasure in, just being playful with Dorothy to help her come outside of herself. “Believe” was always a given, which meant really connecting with [Dorothy] and the audience and the essence of the show, which is, at the end of the day, you always have everything that you need in you to do whatever it is that you dream about.”

Oz in the News 2.24.24

André De Shields Looks Back on 50 Years of The Wiz, Haarlem Nocturne, and Looking Fabulous

Anyone who’s ever seen André De Shields on stage or off knows the Tony winner is a singular performer. The Hadestown star is at 54 Below through February 24 re-creating his 1984 Broadway revue Haarlem Nocturne, but his first major role was the title character of the landmark 1975 musical The Wiz, a modern re-telling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that showcased the music, dancing, and general fabulousness of Black artists. Almost 50 years later, The Wiz is coming back too, with the first major new staging of the musical set to begin performances at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre March 29.

De Shields says that in 1975, producer Ken Harper had been thinking of The Wiz’s wizard more in line with the 1939 MGM screen version of L. Frank Baum’s tale, in which Frank Morgan plays a wizard who’s somewhat of a grandfatherly old coot. De Shields, who had already been eliminated from auditions for the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Lion, suspected that what Harper wanted was not going to work.

“I knew that Harper was wrong,” remembers De Shields. “He wasn’t being evil, but he wasn’t understanding what [The Wiz songwriter] Charlie Smalls had written. Frank Morgan can’t sing soul music.” At that point in the musical’s development, the character’s two signature songs—“So You Wanted to Meet the Wizard” and “Y’all Got It”—were already written, both up-tempo, energetic, cool songs in what was to be billed as “The Super Soul Musical.”

Oz in the News 2.2.24

Hinton Battle, who played Scarecrow in Broadway’s ‘The Wiz,’ dies at 67 after long illness

Hinton Battle, the Tony-winning actor best known for originating the role of The Scarecrow in Broadway’s “The Wiz,” has died. He was 67.

Born in West Germany, Battle displayed an early aptitude for the arts. After studying at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, Battle received a scholarship to attend the School of American Ballet under the direction of famed choreographer George Balanchine, according to Playbill.

Battle made his Broadway debut in 1975 at the age of 18, starring as The Scarecrow in the original production of “The Wiz,” an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

Battle went on to appear in other Broadway productions such as “Dreamgirls,” “Sophisticated Ladies,” “The Tap Dance Kid” and “Miss Saigon,” with the latter three shows earning him a trio of Tony Awards for best featured actor in a musical, per Playbill.

Battle’s illustrious career went beyond the theater. He scored guest roles on TV series including “Touched by An Angel,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Smash.” On the big screen, Battle returned to the “Dreamgirls” universe in 2006, playing Wayne in the film adaptation starring Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx.

In the dance world, Hinton worked as a choreographer on the 65th and 66th Academy Awards, the Outkast musical “Idlewild,” “Bolden,” and “Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story.” He also directed and choreographed the off-Broadway musicals “Respect,” “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” the stage production of “Evil Dead,” and “Sistas: The Musical.”

‘El Otro Oz’ Review: There’s No Place Like (Your Ancestral) Home

Every dramatization of “The Wizard of Oz” seems to offer a pilgrimage to the Emerald City. But “El Otro Oz,” the inspired and imaginative interpretation now playing at Atlantic Stage 2, introduces additional journeys that are ultimately more poignant and profound.

When I first saw this Latin-flavored retelling of L. Frank Baum’s tale two years ago, I was most impressed by its comic inventiveness. (TheaterWorksUSA presented it then as a revised, more bilingual version of its own 2011 show “The Yellow Brick Road.”) That 2022 production, retitled “El Otro Oz” (Spanish for “The Other Oz”), included a pet Chihuahua named Toquito, a wizard who’s a disco diva and, in place of the withered Wicked Witch of the West, the sultry, flamenco-costumed Bruja del Oeste, whose magical castanets evoke a predatory rattlesnake.

None of these creative flourishes have changed, but whether it’s because of world events or the nuances of Melissa Crespo’s direction, I found this new production by Atlantic for Kids (the young people’s division of Atlantic Theater Company) as tender and moving as it is ebullient and funny.