1978 film by Sidney Lumet
The Wiz
is a 1978 American
musical
fantasy
adventure film
directed by
Sidney Lumet
. Adapted from the
1974 Broadway musical of the same name
, the film reimagines the classic 1900 children's novel
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
by
L. Frank Baum
with an African-American cast.
Dorothy
, a 24-year old teacher from
Harlem
, finds herself magically transported to the
urban fantasy
Land of Oz
. On her travels seeking help from the mysterious
Wiz
, Dorothy befriends a
Scarecrow
, a
Tin Man
, and a
Cowardly Lion
.
Produced by
Universal Pictures
and
Motown Productions
, filming took place in Queens, New York City from July to December 1977, with a cast starring
Diana Ross
,
Michael Jackson
(in his feature film debut),
Nipsey Russell
,
Ted Ross
,
Mabel King
,
Theresa Merritt
,
Thelma Carpenter
,
Lena Horne
, and
Richard Pryor
. The story was reworked from
William F. Brown
's Broadway
libretto
by
Joel Schumacher
, and
Quincy Jones
supervised the adaptation of songs by
Charlie Smalls
and
Luther Vandross
. A handful of new songs, written by Jones and the songwriting team of
Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson
, were added for the project.
The Wiz
was theatrically released the following year on October 24, 1978 to critical and
commercial failure
.
[4]
[5]
[6]
The film received generally negative reviews from critics, with many unfavorably comparing the film to its source material. Some critics criticized the casting of Ross as Dorothy.
[7]
[8]
[9]
Despite its initial failure, the film became a
cult classic
among audiences, Ross's fanbase, Jackson's fanbase, and Oz enthusiasts.
[10]
[11]
The 2015 live television adaptation
The Wiz Live!
was influenced by the film.
[12]
Plot
[
edit
]
A crowded
Thanksgiving
dinner brings a host of family together in a small
Harlem
apartment, where shy, 24-year-old elementary schoolteacher
Dorothy Gale
lives with her
Aunt Em
and
Uncle Henry
("The Feeling That We Had"). Extremely introverted, she is teased by Aunt Em for having delayed moving out to start her life as an adult ("Can I Go On?"). While Dorothy cleans up after the meal, her dog
Toto
runs out the open kitchen door into a snowstorm. She succeeds in retrieving him but finds herself trapped in the storm. A magical whirlwind made of snow materializes and transports them to the land of Oz, depicted as a dystopian version of New York City.
As Dorothy descends from the atmosphere, she smashes through an electric "Oz" sign which falls upon and kills Evermean, the
Wicked Witch of the East
who rules
Munchkinland
. As a result, she frees the
Munchkins
who populate the playground into which she lands. Dorothy soon meets the Munchkins' main benefactress, Miss One, the
Good Witch of the North
, a magical
"numbers runner"
who gives her Evermean's charmed silver slippers. Dorothy declares she just wants to get home to Aunt Em. Miss One urges her to follow the
yellow brick road
to the
Emerald City
and seek the help of the powerful "
Wiz
" ("He's the Wiz"). After telling her never to take the silver shoes off, Miss One and the Munchkins disappear and Dorothy is left to search for the road on her own ("Soon As I Get Home").
The next morning, Dorothy happens upon a
scarecrow
made of garbage and saves him from being teased by a group of humanoid crows ("
You Can't Win
"). The Scarecrow hopes the Wiz might be able to give him the one thing he feels that he lacks: a brain. They discover the yellow brick road and begin their journey to the Emerald City (”
Ease on Down the Road
”). Along the way, they meet a
man made out of tin
in an abandoned amusement park ("If I Could Feel"/"Slide Some Oil to Me") and a
cowardly lion
, banished from the jungle ("I'm a Mean Ol' Lion"). The Tin Man and Lion join them on their quest to find the Wiz, hoping to gain a heart and courage, respectively. En route to the Emerald City, the foursome escape from a haunted subway station and a group of flamboyant prostitutes known as the "Poppy Girls", who seduce the Lion. The Lion feels deeply ashamed of leading Dorothy into a trap, but she and the rest of the gang cheer him up ("Be a Lion").
Finally reaching the Emerald City, the foursome are granted an audience with the Wiz, who appears to them as a giant fire-breathing metallic head. He will only grant their wishes if they kill Evermean’s sister, Evillene, the
Wicked Witch of the West
, who runs a sweatshop in the underground sewers of Oz. After they leave, a man is seen peeking out of the metallic head.
Before they can reach her domain, Evillene learns of their quest to kill her and sends out her army of
Flying Monkeys
to capture them ("Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News"). Vengeful for Dorothy having killed her sister, she dismembers the Scarecrow, flattens the Tin Man, and hangs the Lion up by his tail in hopes of making Dorothy give her the silver shoes. When she threatens to throw Toto into a fiery cauldron, Dorothy nearly gives in until the Scarecrow hints to her to activate a fire sprinkler switch. The sprinklers put out the fire and melt Evillene. With Evillene dead, her spells lose their power, resulting in the freedom of all her sweat shop workers and prisoners ("
A Brand New Day
").
The Flying Monkeys give Dorothy and her friends a triumphant ride back to the Emerald City. Upon going in the back entrance, they discover that the Wiz is actually Herman Smith, a washed-up politician from
Atlantic City
who came to Oz by accident in a
hot air balloon
. The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion are distraught that they will never receive their brain, heart, and courage, but Dorothy makes them realize that they already have had these things all along ("Believe in Yourself") even as she fears she will never find her own way home.
Glinda the Good Witch of the South
appears and implores her to use the magic of the silver slippers ("Believe in Yourself (Reprise)"). After thanking Glinda and saying goodbye to her friends, she reminisces about
home
. She clicks her heels together three times and discovers she is back near home with Toto in her arms.
Cast
[
edit
]
Music
[
edit
]
All songs written by
Charlie Smalls
, unless otherwise noted.
Title
| Writer(s)
| Artist
|
---|
1.
| "Overture Part I"
|
|
| 2:36
|
---|
2.
| "Overture Part II"
|
|
| 1:57
|
---|
3.
| "The Feeling That We Had"
|
| Theresa Merritt
and Chorus
| 3:26
|
---|
4.
| "Can I Go On?"
| Quincy Jones
,
Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson
| Diana Ross
| 1:56
|
---|
5.
| "Tornado / Glinda's Theme"
|
|
| 1:10
|
---|
6.
| "He's the Wizard"
|
| Thelma Carpenter
and Chorus
| 4:09
|
---|
7.
| "Soon As I Get Home / Home"
|
| Ross
| 4:04
|
---|
8.
| "
You Can't Win
"
|
| Michael Jackson
and The Four Crows
| 3:14
|
---|
9.
| "
Ease on Down the Road
#1"
|
| Ross and Jackson
| 3:55
|
---|
10.
| "What Would I Do If I Could Feel?"
|
| Nipsey Russell
| 2:18
|
---|
11.
| "Slide Some Oil to Me"
|
| Russell
| 2:51
|
---|
12.
| "Ease on Down the Road #2"
|
| Ross, Jackson and Russell
| 1:31
|
---|
13.
| "I'm a Mean Ole Lion"
|
| Ted Ross
| 2:24
|
---|
14.
| "Ease on Down the Road #3"
|
| D. Ross, Jackson, T. Ross and Russell
| 1:26
|
---|
15.
| "Poppy Girls Theme"
| Anthony Jackson
|
| 3:27
|
---|
16.
| "Be a Lion"
|
| D. Ross, Jackson, T. Ross and Russell
| 4:04
|
---|
17.
| "End of the Yellow Brick Road"
|
|
| 1:01
|
---|
18.
| "Emerald City Sequence"
| (music: Jones, lyrics: Smalls)
| Chorus
| 6:44
|
---|
19.
| "Is This What Feeling Gets? (Dorothy's Theme)"
| (music: Jones, lyrics: Ashford & Simpson)
| Ross - (vocal version not used in film)
| 3:21
|
---|
20.
| "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News"
|
| Mabel King
and the Winkies
| 3:03
|
---|
21.
| "
Everybody Rejoice / A Brand New Day
"
| Luther Vandross
| Ross, Jackson, Pryor, Russell and Chorus
| 7:49
|
---|
22.
| "Believe in Yourself (Dorothy)"
|
| Ross
| 2:55
|
---|
23.
| "The Good Witch Glinda"
|
|
| 1:09
|
---|
24.
| "Believe in Yourself (Reprise)"
|
| Lena Horne
| 2:15
|
---|
25.
| "
Home
(Finale)"
|
| Ross
| 4:03
|
---|
Production
[
edit
]
Pre-production and development
[
edit
]
The Wiz
was the eighth feature film produced by
Motown Productions
, the film/television division of
Berry Gordy
's
Motown Records
label. Gordy originally wanted the teenaged future
R&B
singer
Stephanie Mills
, who had originated the role on Broadway, to be cast as Dorothy. When Motown star
Diana Ross
asked Gordy if she could be cast as Dorothy, he declined, saying that Ross?then 33 years old?was too old for the role.
[13]
Ross went around Gordy and convinced executive producer
Rob Cohen
at
Universal Pictures
to arrange a deal where he would produce if Ross was cast as Dorothy. Gordy and Cohen agreed to the deal.
Pauline Kael
, a film critic, described Ross's efforts to get the film into production as "perhaps the strongest example of sheer will in film history."
[13]
After filmmaker
John Badham
learned that Ross was cast as Dorothy, he decided not to direct, and Cohen replaced him with
Sidney Lumet
.
[13]
Of his decision not to direct
The Wiz
, Badham recalled telling Cohen that he thought Ross was "a wonderful singer. She's a terrific actress and a great dancer, but she's not this character. She's not the little six-year-old girl Dorothy in
The Wizard of Oz
."
[14]
Lumet’s hiring was met with skepticism, as he was known as a dramatic filmmaker with no previous musical directing experience.
[8]
Though
20th Century Fox
had financially backed the
stage musical
, they ended up exercising their
first refusal rights
to the film production, which gave Universal an opening to finance the film.
[15]
Initially, Universal was so excited about the film's prospects that they did not set a budget for production.
[15]
Writing
[
edit
]
Joel Schumacher
's script was influenced by
Werner Erhard
's teachings and his
Erhard Seminars Training
("est") movement, as both Schumacher and Ross were "very enamored of Werner Erhard".
[16]
"Before I knew it," said Rob Cohen, "the movie was becoming an est-ian fable full of est buzzwords about knowing who you are and sharing and all that. I hated the script a lot. But it was hard to argue with [Ross] because she was recognizing in this script all of this stuff that she had worked out in est seminars."
[16]
Schumacher spoke positively of the results of the est training, stating that he was "eternally grateful for learning that I was responsible for my life."
[16]
However, he also complained that "everybody stayed exactly the way they were and went around spouting all this bull shit."
[16]
Of est and Erhard references in the film itself,
The Grove Book of Hollywood
notes that the speech delivered by Glinda the Good Witch at the end of the film was "a litany of est-like platitudes", and the book also makes est comparisons to the song "Believe in Yourself".
[16]
Although Schumacher had seen the Broadway play before writing the script, none of the play's writing was incorporated into the film, a fact that was noted and heavily criticized after release.
[17]
During production, Lumet felt that the finished film would be "an absolutely unique experience that nobody has ever witnessed before."
[15]
When asked about any possible influence from
MGM
's popular 1939 film adaptation of
The Wizard of Oz
, Lumet stated that "there was nothing to be gained from [the 1939 film] other than to make certain we didn't use anything from it. They made a brilliant movie, and even though our concept is different ? they're Kansas, we're New York; they're white, we're black, and the score and the books are totally different ? we wanted to make sure that we never overlapped in any area."
[15]
Casting
[
edit
]
Michael Jackson
, a former Motown star and close friend of Ross, was cast as the Scarecrow. By the start of development, he and his brothers
The Jacksons
(with the exception of
Jermaine Jackson
) had left Motown for
Epic Records
in 1975, after the release of their tenth album
Moving Violation
, though Michael had yet to release a solo album since
Forever, Michael
. Cohen, head of Motown Productions, thought Jackson would be perfect for the role of the Scarecrow, and approached Gordy with the idea, who agreed, though Lumet was harder to convince.
[18]
Lumet wanted
Jimmie Walker
, star of
CBS-TV
's
Good Times
, telling Cohen “Michael Jackson’s a Vegas act. The Jackson 5’s a Vegas act.”
Quincy Jones
was also skeptical of Jackson, but after Cohen arranged a meeting, flying 19-year-old Jackson to New York, Lumet and Jones saw the qualities that Cohen saw. Jackson's father,
Joseph
, was wary of the project and saw it as a threat to the Jacksons group cohesion. Cohen moved Michael and his sister
La Toya
into a Manhattan apartment, allowing him to be on his own for the first time. During production, he became a frequent visitor to New York's famous
Studio 54
. Jackson was dedicated to the Scarecrow role, and watched videotapes of gazelles, cheetahs and panthers in order to learn graceful movements for his part.
[19]
The long hours of uncomfortable prosthetic makeup by
Stan Winston
did not bother him. During production, Jackson asked
Quincy Jones
who he would recommend as a producer on a yet unrecorded solo album project. Jones, impressed by Jackson's professionalism, talent and work ethic, offered to be producer of what became
Off the Wall
(1979), then later on the hugely successful albums
Thriller
(1982) and
Bad
(1987).
Ted Ross
and
Mabel King
were brought in to reprise their respective roles from the stage musical, while
Nipsey Russell
was cast as the
Tin Man
.
Lena Horne
, mother-in-law to Lumet during the time of production, was cast as Glinda the Good Witch, and comedian
Richard Pryor
portrayed The Wiz.
[13]
[20]
The film's choreographer was
Louis Johnson
.
[21]
Filming
[
edit
]
Principal photography
began on July 13, 1977 and concluded on December 29, 1977.
[22]
It took place at
Astoria Studios
in
Queens
, New York. The decaying
New York State Pavilion
from the
1964 New York World's Fair
was used as the set for Munchkinland,
Astroland
at
Coney Island
was used for the Tinman scene with
The Cyclone
as a backdrop, while the
World Trade Center
served as the Emerald City.
[23]
The Emerald City scenes were elaborate, using 650 dancers, 385 crew members and 1,200 costumes.
[23]
[24]
Costume designer
Tony Walton
enlisted the help of high fashion designers in New York City for the Emerald City sequence, and obtained exotic costumes and fabric from designers such as
Oscar de la Renta
and Norma Kamali.
[20]
Albert Whitlock
created the film's visual special effects,
[15]
while
Stan Winston
served as the head makeup artist.
[20]
Songs and score
[
edit
]
Quincy Jones
served as musical supervisor and music producer.
[19]
He later wrote that he initially did not want to work on the film, but did it as a favor to Lumet.
[19]
The film marked Jones' first time working with Jackson, and Jones later produced three hit albums for Jackson:
Off the Wall
(1979),
Thriller
(1982) and
Bad
(1987).
[25]
Jones recalled working with Jackson as one of his favorite experiences from
The Wiz
, and spoke of Jackson's dedication to his role, comparing his acting style to
Sammy Davis, Jr.
[19]
Jones had a brief cameo during the "Gold" segment of the Emerald City sequence, playing what looks like a fifty-foot grand piano.
Of the 28 numbers originally composed by
Charlie Smalls
and company, 17 were retained in full or in part for the film. “Tornado Ballet”, “I Was Born On The Day Before Yesterday”, “Kalidah Battle”, “Lion's Dream”, “Emerald City Ballet (Psst)”, “So You Wanted to Meet the Wizard”, the Act 2 Entr'acte, “Funky Monkeys”, “Who Do You Think You Are?”, “Y'all Got It”, and “A Rested Body” were cut.
Four new numbers were added, "Can I Go On?", the instrumental "Poppy Girls Theme", "Emerald City Sequence" and "Is This What Feeling Gets? (Dorothy's Theme)". “
You Can't Win
”, a song originally written for the musical’s Baltimore run that was cut after it was transferred to Broadway, was reincorporated.
Release and reception
[
edit
]
Box office
[
edit
]
The Wiz
proved to be a commercial failure, as the $24 million production only earned $13.6 million at the box office.
[2]
[3]
[13]
Though prerelease television broadcast rights had been sold to
CBS
for over $10 million, in the end, the film produced a net loss of $10.4 million for Motown and Universal.
[3]
[13]
At the time, it was the most expensive film musical ever made.
[26]
The film's failure steered Hollywood studios away from producing the all-black film projects that had become popular during the
blaxploitation
era of the early to mid-1970s for several years.
[4]
[5]
[6]
Home media
[
edit
]
The film was first released on
VHS
home video
in 1981 by
MCA/Universal Home Video
(with a reissue in 1992) and was first broadcast on television on
CBS
on October 11, 1980 then on May 5, 1984 (edited to 100 minutes), to capitalize on Jackson's massive popularity at the time.
[27]
It continues to be broadcast periodically on Black-focused networks such as
BET
,
TVOne
,
BET Her
, and was the inaugural broadcast on the
Bounce TV
digital broadcast network.
[28]
The Wiz
is often broadcast on
Thanksgiving Day
(attributed to the opening scene of Dorothy's family gathered for a Thanksgiving dinner).
[13]
[29]
The film was released on
DVD
in 1999;
[30]
a
remastered
version entitled
The Wiz: 30th Anniversary Edition
was released in 2008.
[30]
[31]
[32]
Extras on both DVD releases include a 1978 featurette about the film's production and the
original theatrical trailer
.
[30]
A
Blu-ray
version was released in 2010.
[33]
Critical reception
[
edit
]
Critics panned
The Wiz
upon its October 1978 release.
[2]
[34]
Many reviewers directed their criticism at Diana Ross, whom they believed to be too old to play Dorothy.
[6]
[35]
[36]
[37]
Most agreed that what had worked so successfully on stage simply did not translate well to the screen. Hischak's
Through the Screen Door: What Happened to the Broadway Musical When It Went to Hollywood
criticized "Joel Schumacher's cockamamy screenplay", and called "Believe in Yourself" the score's weakest song.
[35]
He described Diana Ross's portrayal of Dorothy as: "cold, neurotic and oddly unattractive"; and noted that the film was "a critical and box office bust".
[35]
In his work
History of the American Cinema
, Harpole characterized the film as "one of the decade's biggest failures", and, "the year's biggest musical flop".
[3]
The Grove Book of Hollywood
noted that "the picture finished off Diana Ross's screen career", as the film was Ross's final theatrical feature.
[16]
[24]
[38]
In his 2004 book
Blockbuster
,
Tom Shone
referred to
The Wiz
as "expensive crud".
[39]
In the book
Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood
, the author criticized the script, noting, "
The Wiz
was too scary for children, and too silly for adults."
[2]
Ray Bolger
, who played the
Scarecrow
in the 1939 film
The Wizard of Oz
, did not think highly of
The Wiz
, stating "
The Wiz
is overblown and will never have the universal appeal that the classic MGM musical has obtained."
[40]
The decision to hire
Sidney Lumet
, a dramatic filmmaker without any prior experience directing musicals, was criticized, with many critics believing his style was unsuited to the material or genre.
[41]
The cinematography and production design, which replaced the fantastical Oz settings of the stage version with gritty urban cityscapes, were likewise criticized.
[42]
Critics also questioned the decision to cut large portions of the original score, in some cases substituting original compositions that were regarded as inferior.
[8]
Jackson's performance as the Scarecrow was one of the few positively reviewed elements, with critics noting that Jackson possessed "genuine acting talent" and "provided the only genuinely memorable moments."
[23]
[43]
Of the results of the film, Jackson stated: "I don't think it could have been any better, I really don't."
[44]
In 1980, Jackson stated that his time working on
The Wiz
was "my greatest experience so far . . . I'll never forget that."
[43]
Gene Siskel
and
Roger Ebert
gave the film some of its most positive reviews on
Sneak Previews
. Siskel called it "superior musical theater," said Diana Ross was "superb," "terrific" and came across as "a real star" but had reservations about the film's "heavy message." Ebert praised other cast members and numerous technical aspects of the film, saying it was "fun" and in the "great tradition of the American musical."
[45]
The film received another positive critique for its elaborate set design in the book
American Jewish Filmmakers
, which noted that it "features some of the most imaginative adaptations of New York locales since the glory days of the Astaire-Rogers films."
[46]
In a 2004 review of the film,
Christopher Null
wrote positively of Ted Ross and Richard Pryor's performances.
[47]
However, Null's overall review of the film was critical, and he wrote that other than the song "Ease on Down the Road", "the rest is an acid trip of bad dancing, garish sets, and a Joel Schumacher-scripted mess that runs 135 agonizing minutes."
[47]
A 2005 piece by Hank Stuever in
The Washington Post
described the film as "a rather appreciable delight, even when it's a mess", and felt that the singing ? especially Diana Ross's ? was "a marvel".
[48]
The New York Times
analyzed the film within a discussion of the genre of
blaxploitation
: "As the audience for blaxploitation dwindled, it seemed as if
Car Wash
and
The Wiz
might be the last gasp of what had been a steadily expanding black presence in mainstream filmmaking."
[49]
The
St. Petersburg Times
noted, "Of course, it only took one flop like
The Wiz
(1978) to give Hollywood an excuse to retreat to safer (i.e., whiter) creative ground until
John Singleton
and
Spike Lee
came along. Yet, without blaxploitation there might not have been another generation of black filmmakers, no
Denzel Washington
or
Angela Bassett
, or they might have taken longer to emerge."
[50]
The Boston Globe
commented, "the term 'black film' should be struck from the critical vocabulary. To appreciate just how outmoded, deceptive and limiting it is, consider the following, all of which have been described as black films" and characterized
The Wiz
in a list that also featured 1970s films
Shaft
(1971),
Blacula
(1972), and
Super Fly
(1972).
[51]
Despite its lack of critical or commercial success in its original release,
The Wiz
became a
cult classic
,
[10]
especially because it features Michael Jackson in his first starring theatrical film role. Jackson later starred in films such as
Disney
's
Captain EO
in 1986, the anthology film
Moonwalker
in 1988 and the posthumous documentary
This Is It
in 2009.
[11]
As of April 2024,
The Wiz
holds a 44% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
from 36 reviews, with the consensus; "This workmanlike movie musical lacks the electricity of the stage version (and its cinematic inspiration), but it's bolstered by strong performances by Diana Ross and Michael Jackson."
[52]
On
Metacritic
, the film has a score of 53 out of 100 based on 11 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
[53]
Accolades
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"
The Wiz
(U)"
.
British Board of Film Classification
. December 7, 1978.
Archived
from the original on August 14, 2020
. Retrieved
October 24,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Sharp, Kathleen (2003).
Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood: Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire
. Carroll & Graf Publishers. pp.
357?358
.
ISBN
0-7867-1220-1
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Harpole, Charles (2003).
History of the American Cinema
. Simon & Schuster. pp.
64, 65, 219, 220, 290
.
ISBN
0-684-80463-8
.
- ^
a
b
Moon, Spencer; George Hill (1997).
Reel Black Talk: A Sourcebook of 50 American Filmmakers
. Greenwood Press. xii.
ISBN
0-313-29830-0
.
- ^
a
b
Benshoff, Harry M.; Sean Griffin (2004).
America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies
. Blackwell Publishing. p. 88.
ISBN
0-631-22583-8
.
- ^
a
b
c
George, Nelson (1985).
Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound
. St. Martin's Press. p. 193.
- ^
"Opinion | The Wiz wasn't so wonderful for Black cinema"
.
thestar.com
. March 21, 2018.
Archived
from the original on January 25, 2023
. Retrieved
January 25,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
Culver, Peter (February 21, 2017).
"Big Bads: 'The Wiz' adaptation tarnishes Broadway classic"
.
The Badger Herald
.
Archived
from the original on January 25, 2023
. Retrieved
January 25,
2023
.
- ^
"Commentary: On its 40th anniversary, a look at how 'The Wiz' forever changed black culture"
.
Los Angeles Times
. October 24, 2018.
Archived
from the original on January 25, 2023
. Retrieved
January 25,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
Han, Angie (March 31, 2015).
"NBC Teaming With Cirque du Soleil for 'The Wiz' Live Musical"
.
Slashfilm
.
Slashfilm
. p. N01.
Archived
from the original on January 22, 2021
. Retrieved
April 6,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Howard, Adam (April 11, 2011).
"How Lumet's 'The Wiz' became a black cult classic"
.
The Grio
.
The Grio
.
Archived
from the original on September 3, 2023
. Retrieved
April 6,
2015
.
- ^
Ne-Yo (actor) (November 25, 2015).
"The Wiz LIVE!" Cast!
(live television interview).
Archived
from the original on December 14, 2021
. Retrieved
December 29,
2015
.
This is a kind of blend of the Broadway musical and the movie, so it's like both of them combined.
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