Theatre Register

William F. Brown

Shows · William F. Brown

Book Writer 1928–2019

William Ferdinand Brown (April 16, 1928 – June 23, 2019) was an American playwright, best known for writing the book of the musical, The Wiz (1974), which is an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, for which Brown received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.

Also credited on3 works

The Wiz
A Broadway Musical
The Wiz (2024 Revival)

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • Chief among the show’s ills was the slapdash book by William F. Brown (The Wiz) about an acerbic white producer’s exploitation of a young black author and his locker-room basketball drama “about the exploitation of a human being” called The Final Point . In the end, crass Broadway commercialism triumphed as The Final Point got subverted i…ebooks/Gilvey, John Anthony/Before the Parade Passes By_ Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical - John Anthony Gilvey.txt
  • 54. The Wiz, book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (New York: Samuel French, Inc., 1974, 1979 [rev]).ebooks/Wolf, Stacy/Changed for Good_A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical - Stacy Wolf.txt
  • McWhinney, Michael Cohen, Tony Geiss, and Sidney Shaw sketches by Ronny Graham, Peter De Vries, William F. Brown, Kenny Solms, Gail Parent, Jack Sharkey, Robert Klein, and Normantheatre-pdfs/More Opening Nights on Broadway - Steven Suskin.txt
  • Kline; continuity and additional dialogue by William F. Brown “entire production conceived and staged by Leonardtheatre-pdfs/More Opening Nights on Broadway - Steven Suskin.txt
  • THE WIZ Book, William F. Brown; Based on L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"; Music and Lyrics, Charlie Smalls; Director, Geoffrey Holder; Choreography and Musical Numbers staged by George Faison; Musical Direction, Tom Pierson; Settings, Tom H. John; Costumes, Geoffrey Holder; Lights, Tharon Musser; Orchestrations, Harold Wheele…theatre-pdfs/Theatre World/Theatre World, 1976-77 Season, v. 33 (Willis).txt
  • Book, William F. Brown; Based on L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"; Music and Lyrics, Charlie Smalls; Direction and Costumes, Geoffrey Holder; Setting, Tom H. John; Lighting, Tharon Musser; Musical Direction and Vocal Arrangements, Charles H. Coleman; Choreography and Musical Numbers staged by George Faison; Manager, Jose Vega.…theatre-pdfs/Theatre World/Theatre World, 1976-77 Season, v. 33 (Willis).txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Any staging. This name appears in no production cast list we hold — 1,877 of 7,139 people are in that position, most of them writers, composers and designers rather than performers.
  • Any portrait. 1,626 of 7,139 people have one, so this is the usual case rather than the exception.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — book writer — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

Something wrong here? Correct a field or report the problem. Every change is recorded in public under the contributor licence.