After 50 long years, it’s time to ease on down the road to “home” at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre, where legendary, multi-award-winning stage musical “The Wiz” opened on Tuesday, June 17, and will run through June 29.
A bonafide classic and rite of passage in Black American homes for generations via the 1978 film adaptation starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, the African American take on L. Frank Baum’s timeless “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” debuted on Broadway in 1975 — but, first, it opened in Detroit, the previous year.
The Broadway bow, featuring an all-Black cast and a Tony Smalls score emphasizing jazz, gospel, R&B, funk, rock, blues and beyond — the entire spectrum of Black American music — went on to nab seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Featured Actor (for Ted Ross, who played the Lion), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Detroit Jazz Festival regular Dee Dee Bridgewater, who played Glinda), Best Choreography (George Faison), and, in a first, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Costume Design (Geoffrey Holder).
This production, fresh from a recent Broadway run, features a book by William F. Brown and is directed by Schele Williams (Broadway’s “The Notebook” and the revival of Disney’s “Aida”), with assists from award-winning choreographer JaQuel Knight (Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” and “Black is King”), with additional material by Tony- and Emmy-nominated writer and TV host Amber Ruffin.
Joseph Joubert is responsible for music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements, with Allen René Louis shepherding vocal and musical arrangements. Emmy-winning music director and Grammy-winning music writer Adam Blackstone is involved, as is dance music arranger Terence Vaughn and music director Paul Byssainthe Jr. A dynamic infusion of ballet, jazz and modern pop will bring a whole new groove to the proceedings.
“The Wiz” design team includes scenic design by Oscar winner Hannah Beachler (“Sinners,” “Black Panther,” Beyoncé’s “Black is King” and “Lemonade”), Emmy-winning and two-time Oscar-nominated costumer Sharen Davis (“Ray,” “Dreamgirls”) and more.
The production also includes the climactic and cathartic “Everybody Rejoice,” written by Luther Vandross, as well as the “Emerald City Ballet” with music by Timothy Graphenreed.
In this touring production, brilliant recording artist and former “The Voice” contestant Kyla Jade portrays its wicked witch, the iconic Evillene.
Jade has Detroit ties through the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), and has performed there and around Detroit in the past.
“I’m a COGIC baby,” she said with a laugh. “I grew up (listening to) the Clark Sisters. I have toured with Karen Clark before. The Clark Sisters, to me, are everything about gospel music and its Detroit sound, and how inspiration their mother, Mattie Moss, was through the COGIC training. I learned how to teach music because of them. And then, I’m an Aretha Franklin-head. Everything about my styling, who I am, is based off my love for Aretha Franklin and her music.
“There’s so much music history in Detroit, so the fact that ‘The Wiz’ is coming back there on a 50-year anniversary tour … it’s really humbling. It’s humbling to be a part of it. It’s going to be so great. I love the food there. When I come to Detroit, I have a time, so I’m excited to come back. The last time I came, I opened for Patti LaBelle and El DeBarge, the Mother’s Day show (at the Fox Theatre, in 2024).”
Also featured in the production are University of Michigan alum Maya Imani (Ensemble, understudy for Addaperle) and pianist Brandon Waddles, Wayne State University professor and son of Detroit music deity Alvin Waddles.
Jade said she landed in “The Wiz” because she “wanted to do something different.”
“I’ve toured for years,” she said, “and I love Broadway. I’m obsessed with all things Broadway, and so I reached out to my agent and I was like, ‘Get me in the room. Get me in the room, and let’s see what happens.’ Everything about my journey has been a faith journey, has really just been about me trusting God and trying something different. So I auditioned, and the director, Schele, saw something in me, and here I am.”
Jade said that people who only know the film version of “The Wiz” will see a somewhat different Evillene in this production.
“In this iteration, you see her weakness, you see her fear,” said Jade. “If you grew up with the movie, you saw a fabulous Evillene (played in a brief but epic performance by the great Mabel King). But she was just angry. She was comical, but she was very angry. This one shows a little more of her fear. Evamene was her sister. Glinda is her sister, and she is dealing with the loss of one sister and the other sister helping people come after her. And I love that I get to play a character that has a lot of sides and dimensions.”
She also pointed out other differences from the film, including the major effort to make the production more family-friendly.
“What was important for our director,” Jade said, “was that this version of ‘The Wiz’ was digestible for a younger audience. But, there are so many Black culture references throughout this work that’s for both — for older crowds, people who’ve only seen the Broadway iteration, for people who’ve only seen the movie. There are modern dances, there’s a lot of color, there are pop culture references, as well as nods to HBCUs. There are things adults and children and everyone can take from it.”
Jade also confessed that she appears onstage much more than someone familiar with the original Broadway show or the film might expect from the actress portraying Evillene.
“Lemme tell you something: I was tricked!” she said. “She would come out, sing that one song. And I was like, ‘You know what? I can do this, no problem.” Actually, you see me throughout, because I’m playing two roles. I play Aunt Em in the beginning, and then they use Evillene throughout, so I definitely didn’t know she was written in more. You see me throughout the whole piece.”
“The Wiz” runs through June 29 at the Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit. Tickets start at $40. For performance dates and times, visit broadwayindetroit.com.
Additional information on tour cities, venues, performance schedules and single ticket on-sale dates are available at WizMusical.com. Follow @thewizbway on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: ‘The Wiz’ returns to Detroit after acclaimed Broadway run
Reporting by Duante Beddingfield, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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