We're not Broadway people but we know a classic when we see it, and The Wiz is classic. The idea of adapting a cinematic masterpiece such as The Wizard of Oz into a new musical—set far from the rural lands of the original in the urban streets of New York City—could have fallen flat but William F. Brown's play was anything but. We hope that the musical gets a Broadway revival (the last attempt, during 2004, was abandoned) but until then the best way to check out The Wiz is via the 1978 film version starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor and more. We've whittled down a short list of our favorite scenes from that film to celebrate the play's 40th anniversary:
05) The Munchkins
Urbanizing The Wizard of Oz quickly provides a challenge as soon as Dorothy lands in fantasy-land: Tony Cox hadn't quite established himself as an actor yet for one, and there had to be something more creative than just casting a dozen other African-American little people as "munchkins." Brown got clever and switched up the oppression the Eastsiders faced under Evermean (the equivalent to the Wicked Witch of The East). Prior to being crushed by Dorothy's entrance, the witch had turned all of her victims into graffiti. Once freed from the spell by Dorothy, The Wiz now had a small army of colorfully-dressed characters for a song-and-dance number. Also, kudos for bringing back the original silver slippers from Frank Baum's novel, versus the ruby slippers.
04) The "Emerald" City
As with the original Wizard of Oz, our protagonists are traveling toward the Emerald City, and as The Wiz's residence happens to be at One World Trade Center, we can assume that the City itself represents the lower half of Manhattan where everything was much more expensive and more fashionable that what we're used to. The Wiz serves not only as a magical dictator but also somewhat as an Anna Wintour, a fashion dictator. As the band enters the city, everyone proclaims how green is the hot color of the moment. The voice of The Wiz emerges several minutes in to declare "I've thought it over and green is dead...until I change my mind, the color is red." The palate of the city will change to gold before the song is over, much like how trends shift faster in the Big Apple.
03) Flying Monkeys
For having been created during 1939, few things in cinematic history have been as terrifying as the flying monkeys that the Wicked Witch of The West kept under her employ. One-upping monkeys with wings, however ridiculous that biological premise is, would be no easy task for Brown. There are only two things that would suffice: A) Velociraptors with wings (who knows, might happen in Jurassic World) or flying monkeys with motorcycles. The producers of The Wiz opted for the latter and they're every bit as awesome as they sound: Apes with aviator goggles and motorcycles that seem to have no less than 14 exhaust pipes. The staff of Evilene's (the Wicked Witch of The West proxy character) sums it up best in unison: "Oh no! Not the flying monkeys!"
02) Evilene...Actually Evil
The Wiz seemed to touch a nerve with post-9/11 America...about 23 years early. The original Wicked Witch of The West was no slouch...she was ready to murder Dorothy to get those slippers and she set the Scarecrow on fire in the process. But Evilene (Mabel King) really lives up to her title, employing torture methods on Dorothy's friends as an attempt to get the magic shoes. This involved brutally tearing apart the straw Michael Jackson, flattening Nipsey Russell's Tin Man into a pancake and flat-out scourging Ted Ross's Lion. She's about to drop Toto into a cauldron when Dorothy pulls the fire alarm, melting the villain just like old times.
01) The Wiz
The original Wizard of Oz was a mind-blowing special effect, featuring a seemingly disembodied head floating and otherwise being a jerk to Dorothy and her pals. The Wiz decided to dial back the special effects and make the mighty and powerful Wiz a giant metallic head, whom your correspondent has long dreamt of turning into a Halloween costume. The head features two spotlight eyes, a metal afro and the ability to spit multicolored fire from its mouth (which moves in a very limited up and down motion while Richard Pryor speaks...all the more awesome for its simplicity). The character also has a penchant for roaring while spraying flame everywhere. If this item is in storage somewhere, the world is losing out on the greatest piece of potential living room furniture ever.
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