IDEA & MAKING
Black entertainment was on the rise in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Ken Harper, a disc jockey at a New York radio station, got the idea of a musical based on the book The Wizard of Oz using black actors and contemporary music. He enlisted Charlie Smalls to write a few songs and began to solicit backing for a Broadway production. Eventually, Harper impressed executives at Twentieth Century-Fox, which was interested in investing in Broadway shows to cultivate future movie properties. Fox (under the name CinemaScope Products) invested $650,000 and the production was on.
Gilbert Moses III was to direct. Geoffrey Holder was to design costumes. George Faison would handle choreography and Tom John designed sets. The production found its Dorothy in 16-year-old singer Stephanie Mills. Clarice Taylor would play the Good Witch of the North and Mabel King would play the Wicked Witch of the West. Dolores Hall signed to play the Good Witch of the South (she would be replaced by Dee Dee Bridgewater) and André De Shields played the Wiz. It was to open on December 17 at the Winter Garden.
The premiere took place in Baltimore in October 1974 and trouble began immediately. Nothing seemed to be working and the show was overlong. With his production on the verge of being shut down, Harper was at a crossroads. Drastic changes needed to be made to salvage the show. By the time the show reached Detroit, Gilbert Moses III was no longer director. He had been replaced by Geoffrey Holder (who was also serving as costume designer). Holder made numerous changes including reinstating the 'Tornado Ballet' and cutting the show to a reasonable length (which necessitated the elimination of veteran actress Butterfly McQueen's role as the Queen of the Field Mice).
BROADWAY HIT
The production opened on January 5, 1975 at the Majestic Theatre in New York with its closing notice posted. The reviews were mixed, calling it stylish and opulent yet troubled. But, Fox invested additional money to create a vigorous publicity campaign. Instead of newspaper advertising, a television commercial was created that emphasized the contemporary flavor and high-energy choreography (television advertising was new to Broadway, with a recent success being Pippin).
Additionally, the black community was targeted. The Amsterdam News ran a special editorial calling for the black community to support the show. The article judged critics as unable to respond to a white story retold by blacks and with an opening night audience comprised mostly of blacks.
The campaign worked and The Wiz quickly became a fashionable show to see. It was nominated for eight Tony Awards, winning all but one (including Best Musical). The Wiz ran on Broadway for four years. There were two touring companies that followed.
FILM VERSION
Fox declined to make the film of the property they had worked so hard to make into a hit. With executive changes at the studio and several recent musical flops (Hello, Dolly!, Star, Doctor Dolittle and others), the landscape for a lavish movie musical was not good in the late 1970s. Motown, the recording company that introduced the Supremes, the Temptations, the Jackson 5 and others, was interested in making the film. They had had two recent film hits with The Lady Sings the Blues and Mahogany and were anxious for another. They struck a deal with Universal Pictures to buy the film rights for them in exchange for distribution rights.
Diana Ross (star of Motown's two hits) was interested in playing Dorothy and the production quickly geared up. Sidney Lumet agreed to direct the film (his first musical). Joel Schumacher wrote a screenplay and Broadway uber-designer Tony Walton created a visual concept for the film. The concept was intriguing. Dorothy was now a kindergarten teacher who had never left her New York City neighborhood. Oz became an abandoned Manhattan complete with New York landmarks translated into use as Oz landmarks.
Filming for The Wiz was completed between September and December 1977. The production was plagued by technical problems, weather delays and union issues. Upon its release in October 1978, it cost $24M, making it the second most expensive movie released in 1978 (after Superman). The film was not a success, its high production cost making it impossible to turn a profit. It grossed $13M.
LEGACY
The stage version has been popular since its Broadway production. There have been countless stock and amateur productions. In 1984, the show had its first London production at the Lyric Hammersmith. There have been three US touring revivals: one in 1984 with Stephanie Mills that had an abbreviated run at the Lunt-Fontanne on Broadway, another in 1992 with Stephanie Mills and André De Shields which also had a New York run the following year, and another in 1997 with Grace Jones and Peabo Bryson.
There was talk about a television remake in 1999. Sherie René Scott had been rumored to play Glinda in a reimagining that would have a score augmented by songs by Andrew Lippa.
In 2006, there were two revivals. The first was a Dutch revival producted by Joop van Ende. It featured direction by Glenn Casale and choreography by Anthony van Laast. The production ran at the Beatrix Theater in Utrecht, Holland. The second took place in the fall of 2006 at the La Jolla Playhouse. It featured a revised script that made it more relevant to audiences 31 years after it premiered. David Alan Grier played The Wiz. Critics were divided, as in 1975. Always a crowd-pleaser, the show extended a week due to high ticket sales.
