Black Musicals: Ep. 2 The Wiz

Welcome to my series on Black Musicals. This second episode is about the Broadway musical The Wiz!

Everything used in this series, such as music, videos, and pictures is fair use as it's for educational, critical, and learning purposes. I want more people to know about Black musicals and their origins as their historiography is far and few.

I want to thank those who sent in videos talking about their experiences and impact with The Wiz. Specifically, thank you to Jordan W, Brianna B, and Celina R/T.

Stay tuned for next week's video about Once On This Island!


Hosted, Researched, and Written by Lonnae Hickman
Edited by Annika Pallasch
Thumbnail Graphics by McLean Casey

Work Cited:

Music in the intro is by Dougie Wood - Bensound

Forsgren, La Donna. “The Wiz Redux; or, Why Queer Black Feminist Spectatorship and Politically Engaged Popular Entertainment Continue to Matter.” Theatre Survey, vol. 60, no. 03, 2019, pp. 325–354., doi:10.1017/s0040557419000243. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journa...

Gray, Tim. “'The Wiz': How TV Turned a Troubled Stage Show Into a Smash.” Variety, Variety, 3 Dec. 2015, variety.com/2015/tv/news/the-wiz-broadway-tv-1201651417/.

Johnson, Jeff. “Essay: 'The Wiz' Is Pure Black Excellence.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 3 Dec. 2015, www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/essay-wiz-pure-black-excellence-n471586.

Knowles, Katie. “Ease on Down the Road.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 11 July 2019, nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/collection/ease-down-road.

Lamb, Kristen. “Celebrating ‘The Wiz’: How the Showstopping Musical Came to Be.” Fords Theatre, www.fords.org/blog/post/celebrating-the-wiz-how-the-showstopping-musical-came-to-be/.

“List of the Longest-Running Broadway Shows.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_longest-running_Broadway_shows.

“NMAAHC Collections Search.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, nmaahc.si.edu/explore/collection/search?edan_q=%2A%3A%2A&edan_fq%5B0%5D=set_name%3A%22Black+Fashion+Museum+Collection%22&edan_fq%5B1%5D=p.edanmdm.indexedstructured.name%3A%22Holder%2C+Geoffrey%22&edan_local=1.

“Original Broadway Production (1975).” Photos for Original Broadway Production (1975) | The Wiz, thewizthemusical.com/productions/original-broadway-production-1975/photos.

Rigsbee, Valerie. The Wiz. broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/wiz.htm.
Rollins, Bryant. “Does 'The Wiz' Say Something Extra to Blacks?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Dec. 1975, www.nytimes.com/1975/12/28/archives/does-the-wiz-say-something-extra-to-blacks.html.

Staff, Playbill. “Celebrate More Than 45 Years of The Wiz on Broadway.” Playbill, PLAYBILL INC., 5 Jan. 2021, www.playbill.com/article/celebrate-more-than-45-years-of-the-wiz-on-broadway#:~:text=The%20Wiz%2C%20Charlie%20Smalls'%20musical,winning%207%20including%20best%20musica.

“The Wiz.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wiz.

Woll, Allen L. Black Musical Theatre: from Coontown to Dreamgirls. Da Capo, 1989.

Video Links:
   • The Wiz Original Broadway Trailer  

   • SERINO COYNE: The Wiz - TV Commercial  

   • Commercial for The Wiz (1984)  

   • Stephanie Mills sings Be A Lion & Eas...  

   • Stephanie Mills - Home  

   • The Wiz (1975; Original Broadway Cast...  

   • 'Home' Shanice Williams | The Wiz Live!  

   • Stephanie Mills Gets Ready As Dorothy...  

   • JAZMINE SULLIVAN SINGS "HOME" @ AGE 1...