The run closed January 28, 1979
- Opened
- January 5, 1975
- Closed
- January 28, 1979
- Performances
- 1,672
- Previews
- —
- Theatre
- Majestic Theatre
Of the 589 productions we hold that opened in the 1970s and record a performance count, this is the 11th longest. That is a rank within what we hold, not within everything that was staged.
Other stagings of The Wiz 2 more that season
| 1984 | Lunt Fontanne Theatre Revival · Geoffrey Holder | 13 perf. |
| 2024 | Marquis Theatre Revival · Schele Williams | 142 perf. |
Who was in it75 named
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Phylicia Ayers Allen
Lettie Battle
Danny Beard
Phillip Bond
Leslie Butler
Pi Douglass
Ronald Dunham
Wendy Edmead
Frank Floyd
Rodney Green
Sam Harkness
Eugene Little
Eleanor Mccoy
Frances Morgan
Nancy
Joni Palmer
John Parks
Howard Porter
Jozella Reed
Kenneth Scott
Evelyn Thomas
Andy Torres
Carl Weaver
Ralph Wilcox
Thea Barnes
Shirley Brown
Edye Byrde
Albert Fann
Keith Harris
Irene Reid
Siri Sat Nam Singh
Toney Watkins
James Wigfall
Charles Lavont Williams
Ruth Brisbane
Pat Estwick
L Michael Gray
Demarest Grey
Carl Hall
Dyane Harvey
Lois Hayes
Paul Hoskins
Kevin Jeff
Kwame Johnson
Michael Leslie
Claudia Lewis
Esther Marrow
Alvin Mcduffie
Ella Mitchell
Alma Robinson
Renee Rose
Janyse M Singleton
Alwin Taylor
Bruce Taylor
Chuck Thorpe
Toto
Gayle Turner
Westy
Victor Willis
15 of these 75 names have a person record behind them and link to one. The other 60 are set from the identifier in the cast list, which is a slug of the name — so hyphens and full stops are lost and a few come out wrong. We hold nothing else about them. Nobody here is matched to a character: the cast list records who was in the company and not what they played.
Characters9 roles recorded
Renn Woods Dorothy Gale
Hinton Battle Scarecrow
Ben Harney Tin Man
Gregg Baker The Lion
Ann Duquesnay Glinda
Dee Dee Bridgewater Aunt Em
Ella Mitchell Evillene
Carl Hall The Wiz
Vivian Bonnell Addaperle
Only 512 of 13,459 productions carry role names, and these came out of a wiki table — the names arrived with the table's own cell markup on them and have been stripped back. They are not linked to person records because the identifiers in that table do not resolve to ours.
Creative team
- Director
- Geoffrey Holder, Uncredited, Gilbert Moses
- Choreographer
- George Faison
- Producer
- Ken Harper
A producer is one string on this record, however many people or companies it names. Directors and choreographers are held both as text and as identifiers; where an identifier exists the name links to a page.
Tony Awards 1 from 1 nomination
| Best Musical | Won |
Recordings 6 held for the work
None of these is attributed to this staging. They are filed against The Wiz, and nothing in the record says which production any of them documents. Closing that join is the point of this catalogue and it is not closed yet.
Around this production
The Wiz, an African American adaptation of The Wizard of Oz with a popular score, debuts at the Majestic Theater and runs for 1,672 performances. Historical Dictionary of the Broadway Musical Volume 22 William A Everett Paul R, p. 29
Charlie Smalls: “Home” from The Wiz (1975), about which Sondheim said he could never write a song so sentimental and do it well;
Speaker not recorded. The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia Rick Pender Rowman Littlefield Publishing Lanh, p. 517- The Wiz, a contemporary black variation, opened on Broadway in 1975. Broadway Musicals Show By Show Seventh Edition Stanley Green Cary Ginell, p. 21
- The all-black musical version of The Wizard of Oz, entitled The Wiz (1/5/75; 1,672 performances), was supposed to be a quick flop, but it caught on with audiences and was a tremendous hit. Broadway Its History People and Places An Encyclopedia Bloom Ken 1949 2nd Ed New, p. 352
- Mike Nichols, of Annie (1977) fame, decided to try it again with an eye on The Wiz (1975). No dice. More Opening Nights On Broadway A Critical Quotebook of Compiled By Steven Suski, p. 1026
- Ease on Down the Road became the first blockbuster Broadway song hit of the 1970s and helped carry THE WIZ past a dismal initial reception. Show Tunes the Songs Shows and Careers of Broadway S Suskin Steven Suskin Steven, p. 431
- The Wiz 1,672 performances Opened January 5, 1975 Closed January 29, 1979 Theatre World 2009 2010 Season V 66 Willis, p. 455
Passages naming this production, found by keyword across 178 books. Where it turns up in the literature, not curated notes about it.
What this page does not know
- No photograph of this staging. 48 of 13,459 productions hold one.
- Which of the 6 recordings of The Wiz document this run, if any.
- Reviews, box office, running order, understudies and designers: none of it is held for any production.