The Wiz

By Gail Nobles

9/16/2007

The Wiz was a 1975 hit Broadway musical show featuring African-American actors like singer Stephanie Mills as Dorothy and Mabel King as Evilene. The musical was based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. After The Wiz was a 1975 Broadway musical, it was made a 1978 motion picture by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures.

The actors were Diana Ross as Dorothy, Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, Ted Ross as the Cowardly Lion, Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man, Lena Horne as Glinda the Good Witch, Richard Pryor as the Oz’s Great Wizard, Mabel King as Evilene, Thelma Carpenter as Miss One, and Theresa Merritt as Aunt Em. Some of the actors that played the Broadway musical did not play in the movie.

The Wiz was a lot different than The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Dorothy is a Manhattan kindergarten teacher who is brought by a snowstorm to a mysterious land of Oz. The scenery looked like New York City.

In the Wiz, you get a chance to see crows dancing and singing around the scarecrow and making fun of him. The scarecrow sings a song “You Can’t Win” which was the crow anthem sung by Michael Jackson. The scarecrow read a lot and was very intelligent, but he thought he had no brain and the crows fed him negative thoughts. He believed their negative thoughts and remained hanging up on a pole. Then Dorothy scared the crows away and helped the scarecrow down.

Instead of singing “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” in the Wizard of Oz, “Ease On Down the Road“, was sung in the Wiz by Michael Jackson (scarecrow) and Diana Ross (Dorothy). The Lion sung, “I’m a Mean Ole Lion” and was a coward. The Tin Man sung “What Would I Do If I Could Feel” because he could not feel. Just like in L. Frank Baum’s version, Dorothy was trying to get home, the  Scarecrow wanted a brain, the Tin Man wanted a heart, and the Lion wanted courage.

The bad witch in The Wiz did not have a pointed black hat like a regular witch with a long nose. The witch in the Wiz was a fat and ugly witch, and she was really mean. Her part took place in a place that looked like a sewing factory. She made her workers work. As the witch would walk down the aisle or walk way, she would sing “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News”. She was destroyed by water as rain came down on her. Dorothy and her friends were free.

When the Lion, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Dorothy found out that the Wiz (Richard Pryor) was a phony, they were very disappointed. They met, Glinda, The Good Witch (Lena Horne). She told Dorothy how to get home. The movie ended with Dorothy singing “Believe In Yourself” to her friends. It was also sung by the good witch to Dorothy. Then Dorothy sung “Home” and clicked her heels three times. Then she was home again.

I really liked The Wiz Movie because I could relate to it. But, I still love The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.