| The Wiz --Fun but screams "I'm a cheap touring show!" | |
| Posted by: Zelgo 07:57 pm EDT 05/02/24 | |
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| Despite the roles of Dorothy, Aunt Em/Evillene, and Addaperle being played by understudies, The Wiz last night was a ton of fun. The original The Wiz production sparked my love of theater. I've seen so many subsequent versions, and they all were close to terrible--mainly because of the book. Scenes went by so quickly that there's little time to understand the characters. The current version does the best job so far of tackling the faulty book. Scenes have been entirely re-written--dipping more into jokes that resonate with Black audiences (after watching, I now understand the NYT reviewer's comments). There are a few very modern references too. The earlier scenes are fuller, so the characters develop better. This runs out of steam (or time) by the end, when it gets back to rushing through. This production brings back the main aspect so lacking in other productions--joy. Oddly, the production changes up the songs too. It assumes we already know the classic songs and slows them down, quickens them up, syncopates, jazzifies, and technos them--often within the same song. Unfortunately, that removes much of the emotional heft. Plus, the audience was dying to clap along to songs like Brand New Day and Y'all Got It, but got tripped up by the changing rhythms. Unfortunately, like so many productions this one does a quick tornado scene instead of the stunning music and dancing of the original. Why doesn't anyone do that full number?? The voices were spectacular. Even the understudies had first class singing voices. The sets, however, are less "magic of theatre" and "We have to break this down by tonight to get it to Peoria." The background is projections that move and change convincingly to fit the scenes. It would work great in Peoria. The sides and top of the stage are lined with likely adjustable designed curtains, to fit different stage sizes. Either way, the whole thing was a hoot, not a $500 a ticket hoot (as much of the orchestra was priced), but more a $125 hoot. |
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