| . | 06/22/2009
The Wiz
By: Michael Patrick Hearn
The Wizard of Oz must be Broadway-proof. It was the basis for a legendary musical extravaganza back in 1903 that became the biggest hit of its day. The all-Black version The Wiz repeated the boffo box office in 1975 and took home seven Tony Awards including Best Musical. And Wicked, the back story of the Witches of Oz, has been packing them in for the last five years. Has the current summer revival of The Wiz at City Center captured that old Black magic?
The Wiz brought the spectacle back to Broadway in January 1975. Geoffrey "Cola Nuts" Holder not only brilliantly staged the musical but provided the striking set and costume designs. The entire cast from dynamic Stephanie Mills as Dorothy to Dee Dee Bridgewater as Glinda was inspired. But nothing is a sure thing on the Great White Way. Luke-warm reviews and disappointing ticket sales nearly closed The Wiz in its first week. Then producer Ken Harper convinced his backers Twentieth Century Fox to invest in a TV ad and The Wiz quickly found its interracial audience. "The Super Soul Musical" redefined how a show is promoted in New York and won Tonys for Best Direction, Best Book, Best Featured Actress, Best Featured Actor, Best Score, Best Choreography, and Best Musical. The Wiz proved that Black was beautiful and belonged on Broadway.
The overproduced 1978 Motown movie directed by pale male Sydney Lumet was a bitter disappintment. By transporting the story from Kansas to Harlem, Oz became every tourist's nightmare of the Big City. The casting was inventive at best with a mature Diana Ross as Dorothy, Michael Jackson in his only major motion picture role as the Scarecrow, Richard Pryor as The Wiz, Lena Horne as Glinda and Ted Ross transplanted from Broadway to play the Lion. Of course it was not entirely Black: the New York Chapter of the Hell's Angels played the Winged Monkeys on Harleys. This Wiz was a box office disaster and nearly killed the Hollywood musical. Although the 1984 Broadway revival too flopped, there has been a lot of life left on the Yellow Brick Road. The show has been performed in schools and regional theaters and all over the world in multiracial casts. A recent spectacular Dutch production in Utrecht was billed as "the feel good musical" of 2006 ("Kom op en ga nou maar, ga nou maar gewoon..."). The Wiz has always been a show about liberation and affirmation summarized by Luther Vandross' rousing interpolation "Everybody Rejoice (Brand New Day)."
Oddly Ken Harper, the brains, the heart and courage behind The Wiz, is nowhere mentioned in the current revival at City Center from June 12 through July 5. It comes from Encores!, justly celebrated for their supernal concert versions of obscure and not so obscure ("What another Gypsy?") Broadway musicals. William F. Brown has obviously fiddled with his old book by inserting some updated gags. Although based on L. Frank Baum's classic children's book, some of the humor is not kiddie friendly. But The Wiz was always a song-driven rather than book-driven show. Charlie Smalls as both lyricist and composer channelled a host of national styles--jazz, blues, Dixieland, gospel, r & b, pop, soul, disco, even Tin Pan Alley. Every number of the still funky score was designed to be a show stopper. Consequently the play's success relies on if the cast can deliver.
 And this cast can. Christian Dante White as the Scarecrow puts over "I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday" like a young Stevie Wonder. Tinman Joshua Henry does a nifty tap dance during "Slide Some Oil to Me" and gives a soulful "What Would I Do If I Could Feel?" Monroe Inglehart has the girth and grace and chops to make the Lion as appealing as Ted Ross in the original play and movie. Swaggering, seductive Orlando Jones as The Wiz himself may remind many of another prominent Black politician. (Jones will be replaced in the role by Colman Domingo beginning June 29). But the Witches of Oz steal the show. Dawnn Lewis is deliciously addlepated as Good Witch of the North Addaperle; and Tichina Arnold as the seemingly indestructible Wicked Witch Evillene is a true force of nature. Nothing could be lovelier than Tony-winner Lachanze as Glinda, imploring Dorothy to believe in herself. She had the crowd on their feet and eating out of her hand.
Despite these high-powered performances, this stripped-down Wiz is not yet Broadway ready. Placing the orchestra onstage in Oz often distracts from the action of the play. And why the Russian Constructivist set? It looks more like a building site in Topeka rather than Munchkinland or the Emerald City. Paul Tazewell's costumes range from glamorous to tacky to just plain odd. The lighting and special effects are minimal but sometimes witty as in the cyclone scene and the launch of the Wiz's balloon. Andy Blankenbuehler's choreography lacks the invention and verve of Charles Faison's original. The stunning Cyclone Ballet and the four Yellow Brick Road dancers have been scrapped for busier, at times confusing business on stage. Although the ensemble is first rate, the dancers have to perform in black against a dark stage and are frequently hauling props and scenery on and off. Director Thomas Kail keeps the action moving. The production remains lighthearted throughout, often delightfully silly and refreshingly free of the bombast of much of Wicked.
All rests ultimately on the shoulders of Dorothy. Having already played the part in the distressed and distressing Muppets Wizard of Oz in 2005, Ashanti is not the powerhouse Stephanie Mills was. There is a sweetness, delicacy, even hesitancy to her performance that will likely strengthen as she becomes more comfortable and confident with the role. Right now she tends to get lost in the high voltage talent all around her. Her decking of the Lion comes out of nowhere just for a cheap laugh. Who knew this beautiful little Dorothy packed such a mean left hook? It is only in the last moments of the show that Ashanti is left entirely on her own to return to Kansas. She not only commands the stage but fills the theater with her strong reaffirming rendition of "Home." What could be a more fitting way to send the audience back home, cheering for The Wiz.
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