2. The basic storyline is the same, with Dorothy being taken from her home by a large storm and being dropped down in Oz, surrounded by colors, sights and sounds she has never experienced before. The Wiz is indeed a New York movie, featuring the most fantastical representations of the city's landmarks since the 1933 King Kong. There are so many liminal scenes within The Wiz! Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel both gave this two thumbs up on Sneak Previews: The Wiz/Who is Killing The Great Chefs of Europe?/Girlfriends/The Big Fix/Days of Heaven (1978). It's set to return to Broadway in spring 2024. Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills. At one point, he took Michael aside to explain a Scarecrow bit in the scriptthat the Greek philosophers name is pronounced Sock-ra-tees and not Sow-cray-tees. As Jones would tell the story, he asked Michael right then if he could take a shot at producing his next solo album. Robin Givens' debut, as a guest at Aunt Emma's party. Those are some of the freakiest damn pics I have ever seen. The song was cut from the stage version of the musical during previews, but was included in the film as the Scarecrow's song. This subway scene freaked me out too and for years I didnt know what movie it was from! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Building. Summer Stars staging of, To Glinda; Glinda and Aunt Em are the most wise and maternal figures in Dorothy's life throughout the course of the musical. The songs get a little sticky about here (all sorts of unthrilling messages about how you can achieve anything if only you believe) but Diana Ross knows how to sell them, and she has a virtuoso solo in a totally darkened frame that reminds us of Barbra Streisand's closing number in Funny Lady.. The classic 1939 movie has its witch and flying monkeys. In other words, we're watching prostitutes trying to kill our heroes by making them overdose. The Scarecrow, described in one review as looking like he escaped from an especially creepy. Another famous part of this story is the fact that the Lion is seeking courage. Now, let's look at how they did it. It had a great concept (an African-American take on The Wizard of Oz in which the characters dont follow the yellow brick road, they ease on down it), a strong director (Sidney Lumet, whod just done Dog Day Afternoon and Network) and a solid cast (Diana Ross as Dorothy, Richard Pryor as the Wiz, Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man). Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West, is depicted in this film as, The Tin Man getting his body pressed thin can look. I li. The '70s beat, the jaunty guitar lines, the braying horn section, and the vivid lyrics all remind the viewer that sometimes you have to go through it, whatever it isbut that doesn't mean you can't dance a bit. I never wanted to watch this flickuntil now! It's good that the Scarecrow is the first traveling companion she meets; Michael Jackson fills the role with humor and warmth. How these two characters differ is that where Aunt Em is a very simple and down-to-earth woman with a hot-temper, Glinda is an extravagant and theatrical witch with boundless patience. An adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience. The cultural/racial differences are telling, the modern 70s stylings, the sympathetically cool casting of Ross (my late-to-the-party new crush), & the change to make Dorothy afraid to leave her home. A less obvious problem was that during filming, Lumets wife at the time, Gail Jones, daughter of Wiz star Lena Horne, had approached the director on set and asked for a divorce. A run-in with a roller coaster. Michaels a star., Lumet was harder to convince. Included among the American Film Institute's 2004 list of 400 movies nominated for the top 100 America's Greatest Music in the Movies for the song "Ease On Down the Road.". Not because shes too old (although she is), but because she plays Dorothy the same way she played Billie Holiday, with an emaciated world-weariness, when the part, as Judy Garland had shown the world forty years earlier, called for a wide-eyed, childish wonder. Also, one of the pictures looks like the video for Bad, Not entirely related but Those paintings of faces of the walls look like peak ENA character material. Ease on down the yellow-brick road with The Wiz, starring superstars Diana Ross and Michael Jackson! Liminal space is where all transformation takes place, if we learn to wait and let it form us. When Dorothy first arrives in Oz, and the Munchkins pop out of the walls and begin shambling towards her, hands outstretched, and repeating nothing other than "Toto" in high pitched voices. The red sequence had to be shortened due to a lighting error, and there was no time to re-shoot. In the original Oz novels, L. Frank Baum, they were unnamed. The duet between Michael Jackson and Diana Ross on "Ease On Down the Road" was released as a single by MCA Records in September, 1978. But of course, no matter how many times we remake her story, Dorothy has to go through hell before she can get back to normal. Sidney Lumet was chosen to direct primarily because of his reputation for finishing his pictures on time and within budget. I guess I should make a joke about the baseball team, but I cant think of a good one. However, the dramatic irony of the Scarecrows situation is that he is in fact one of the most knowledgeable characters and he simply does not know it. The final barrier was Joe Jackson, who wasnt thrilled about Michael doing a project that separated himself financially from the rest of his siblings. Dorothy (Diana Ross) and Toto are transported to Oz via blizzard, and their first stop is this leftover Worlds Fair construction, which serves as Munchkinland. With an infectious soul score, dynamic . Garland played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939). The cast of 'The Wiz' (L-R Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Diana Ross and Ted Ross) pose for a publicity shot in 1978 in New York, New York. 3. . in terror. They dont judge us when they see us eating junk food that we really shouldnt; instead they just want us to share it. It's full of big swings, wild interpretations, and deranged set pieces (still having nightmares about the subway scene). From their slinky noises slowing turning into a constant. Mabel King was then starring in What's Happening!! The Wiz came along at a perfect time for Berry Gordy and Motown Records. Stephanie Mills, who starred in the Broadway production, was the top choice to play Dorothy in the movie before Diana Ross lobbied for the role. Im not quite sure how my love for dogs got started, but I dont mind it. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital WEREWOLF, THE WARRIORS. The subway scene, from the growing puppets, sharp-toothed sentient trash cans and moving pillars. The 1985 sequel RETURN TO OZ has its Wheelers and decapitated heads and THE WIZ wields a truly alarming subway scene. Dorothy is extremely reluctant to leave Aunt Em's home and branch out by herself in the 1978 film. The Port Authority would not allow more time to fix mistakes. The CBS Television Network's eyeball logo, slightly modified with an O and a Z in the middle of the walking microphone and camera, was used in the Emerald City dancing scenes. That a twenty-four-year-old schoolteacher should be too sophisticated to consort with cowardly lions and scarecrows and men made out of tin. Eartha Kitt was first choice for the role of Evillene. It's quite unnerving as a first impression of Oz. Their words of wisdom, on top of her personal meditation and advice-seeking is what leads her back home in the end. Train Scene 1: In the beginning of the movie, Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is in a subway and while travelling he keeps looking at a very attractive woman and the woman also responds to him with smile and all of a sudden her smile turns into a serious expression and tries . He is my work-from-home fashion icon but beyond that, he's pretty useless. Synchronicity alert.I just learned today is Diana Ross B-day. Michael and Diana have terrific chemistry, but Ross is mismatched for the part. One of the fascinating things about The Wiz is that it is a strange, delightful hybrid: a super-soul fantasy and a pointed gloss on '70s black life in reality. But the 1972 drama was a success in the end, drawing five Oscar nominations, although Ross lost Best Actress to Liza Minnelli of Cabaret. Who can say! There is a shot with a coaster in the background and multiple buildings that look kinda like the empire state building that fits also. The Feature Film The Wiz (1978) was filmed at Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. (It cut from RIchard Pryor peeking out to the time clock at the sweat shop). In the 2015 television special, Dorothy learns that home is where her family is, which is with Aunt Em in Kansas, as opposed to in Omaha, where she use to live with her deceased parents. He turned it down, and the part was given to Michael Jackson. Snow Babies shot in the background were dolls. The characters of The Wiz. It may represent the part in the book where Dorothy and company are pursued by the Kalidahs, a kind of bear-tiger chimera. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. The subway station scenes were filmed at the decommissioned Court Street IND station in Brooklyn, NY, also known as the NYC Transit Museum. With Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross. TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. I just finished up participating in a local show titled "The Wiz". Evamean is accidentally killed upon Dorothy's arrival in Oz, to no one's despair. The character was changed to a 24-year-old kindergarten teacher, but by then Sidney Lumet had already replaced Badham. When you think about it, the story is about liminal space. The scene in which the Cowardly Lion emerges from one of the statues in front of the main research branch of the New York Public Library was shot on a set instead of the actual location because it was logistically impossible to film an entire scene devoid of people, save the main actors, without traffic and pedestrians getting in the way of the production. 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