Backstage Pass with Lia Chang: January 5, 2015, marks the 40th anniversary of the Broadway production of The Wiz. One of the first large-scale, big-budget Broadway musicals to star an all-black cast, The Wiz features music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African-American culture.
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I am so happy that I can be a part of this wonderful event! The wiz was and is one of the great plays that helped tell the story of the African American culture and people. I remember when I first say the movie version; I did not have the same effect on me as it did the older generation in my family, but I remember my mother’s excitement as she told me about it and the inspiration it gave her as a teen. Now that I am older I recognize just what it meant for actors, dancers and vocalists at the time. Finally they had another way to express themselves that wasn’t just for the comedic relief in “white shows”. The Wiz show the true love and compassion in an African American home and among their families, something that hadn’t been done before. It was incredibly relatable. This show, along with other emerging Black television and stage productions, really helped to give the African American culture a voice.
When I was younger, The Wiz was one of my favorite movies. My family watched it over and over again, and like Alex the older members of my family would get so excited to tell us about how the culture depicted in this version of Oz spoke to them as young adults. It is amazing how much being able to see a piece of your culture being portrayed as magical in the media, inspires people who don’t usually get that opportunity. It has an even greater impact when you recognize all of the actors are your cultural icons as well. My mother and her sisters never got to see the Wiz as a play as children, but a few years ago we got to see the revival on Broadway and it was amazing to see how much it still meant to them. Plus watching the actors give interviews on what it meant to them to be apart of revival was great, because you got a since of the play’s historical importance within Broadway’s community as well.
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