Based on L. Frank Baum's children's book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", The Wiz takes one of the world's most enduring (and enduringly white) American fantasies, and transforms it into an all-Black musical extravaganza for the ages. Featuring a book by William F. Brown and a Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls (and others), this entirely reimagined revival is directed by Schele Williams, choreographed by Jaquel Knight, additional material by Amber Ruffin, and music supervision, orchestrations, and music arrangements by Joseph Joubert.
In other words, the actors and dancers in this “Wiz” carry the show magnificently, with Kyle Ramar Freeman’s Lion, Phillip Johnson Richardson’s Tin Man and Avery Wilson’s Scarecrow the funniest trio of misfits ever to take us on this trip to Oz. Watching these three actors outperform each other is a friendly competition not to be missed. This kind of ensemble doesn’t come out of nowhere and credit must go to director Schele Williams. But the secret sauce here is Amber Ruffin, who’s credited with “additional material for this production.” No way did William F. Brown’s book for the original 1974 Broadway production of “The Wiz” offer this many inspired one-liners. Ruffin provides a lot of great stand-up, put-down humor for Melody A. Betts’ wonderful Evilene (a Wicked Witch) and Allyson Kaye Daniel’s equally terrific Addaperle (a Good Witch). Leading the Munchkins, Daniel sets the stage afire until Wilson, Richardson and Freeman come aboard to burn it down completely.
Sadly, don’t expect to hear the same kind of exuberance for director Schele Williams’ current production of “The Wiz” at the Marquis Theatre – at least from me. Yes, the show remains a crowd-pleaser, with its catchy Charlie Smalls songs (I’m still humming “Ease on Down the Road”) and clever-enough, fairly faithful book by William F. Brown (here punched up with some contemporary jokes by Amber Ruffin) to keep us entertained for 2 ½ hours. Still Broadway audiences deserve something far better than this middling national-tour production that has been dropped into the Marquis for a limited run the same way Dorothy’s house was dropped into Oz after a tornado. True, no fatality occurs, just a sadly missed opportunity to introduce the show to new audiences (as well as delight older ones) with a first-rate reimagining of this beloved material.
General Rush
Price: $45
Where: Marquis Theatre box office (210 W 46th St)
When: Beginning at 10 AM ET on the day of the performance.
Limit: Two per customer.
Information: Subject to daily availability. Seat locations for this program vary and may be available in all sections of the theatre. Locations are determined each by the show’s management and assigned at the discretion of the Box Office at time of purchase.
Digital Lottery:
Price: $45
Where: https://lottery.broadwaydirect.com/show/the-wiz-ny/.
When: Winners are drawn the same day at 3 PM ET and will have one hour to pay for their tickets online.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Lottery seats may be partial view.
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