Phylicia Rashad (then Phylicia Ayers-Allen) appeared in the original Broadway company as a Munchkin and a Field Mouse, while also understudying the role of Glinda. Butterfly McQueen was a standby for Addaperle, and Ken Page was a replacement Lion.
Produced by Universal Pictures and Motown Productions, filming took place in Queens, New York City from October to December 1977, with a cast starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson (in his feature film debut), Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Theresa Merritt, Thelma Carpenter, Lena Horne, and Richard Pryor.
Who was originally supposed to play Dorothy in The Wiz?
Don't get me wrong, Diana Ross is a accomplished singer and has done a great job in Lady sings the Blues and Mahogany but in all honesty she was just too old to play Dorothy in the Wiz considering Stephanie Mills is the one who actually put that play on the map.
News Mabel King, Evillene of Bway's The Wiz, is Dead at 66 Mabel King, 66, who raised the roof in Broadway's The Wiz, as the wicked witch, Evillene, died Nov. 9 after a long illness, The New York Times reported. Mabel King, 66, who raised the roof in Broadway's The Wiz, as the wicked witch, Evillene, died Nov.
What famous singer had a role in the film version of The Wiz?
The resulting film version of The Wiz also starred former Motown star Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man, Richard Pryor as the Wizard, jazz singer Thelma Carpenter as Miss One (the name "Addapearle" was not used for this production) and Lena Horne as Glinda.
Interview with Phylicia Rashad- Surprise... The Wiz
Did Luther Vandross sing in The Wiz?
The film version of 'The Wiz' was released on this day. in 1978! Luther supplied uncredited backing vocals on. the soundtrack, and also wrote the climactic.
However, a Motown singer and personal friend of Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, also wanted the role of Dorothy. Despite her manager Berry Gordy's discouragement, she managed to convince the film's exec producer, Rob Cohen, to arrange a deal where he would produce the film if she was cast as Dorothy.
Original director John Badham stepped down when he objected to 33-year-old Diana Ross being cast as a teenage Dorothy. The character was changed to a 24-year-old kindergarten teacher, but by then Sidney Lumet had already replaced Badham.
He won a Tony Award for the original 1975 Broadway production and recreated the role in the 1978 film version which also starred Diana Ross (no relation), Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell, and Lena Horne.
At the very least, the same is true with “The Wiz.” The original Broadway cast starred R&B legend Stephanie Mills as Dorothy. In the movie. produced by Motown Records, Mills was replaced by Miss Diana Ross.
In 1938, when Garland was sixteen, she was cast as the young Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939), a film based on the 1900 children's book by L. Frank Baum.
Thelma Carpenter (January 15, 1922 – May 14, 1997) was an American jazz singer and actress, best known as "Miss One", the Good Witch of the North in the movie The Wiz.
THE WIZ was filmed at Astoria Studios and on location throughout New York City, including the base of the World Trade Center, where the Emerald City sequences were performed, and the Astor Place subway station. Other scenes took place at Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium and Coney Island.
Dorothy is a 24-year-old kindergarten teacher from Harlem, who along with her dog Toto are lost in a snowstorm on the night of Thanksgiving and end up in the Land of Oz, which looks like a strangly surreal verison of New York City. Dorothy learns the only way she can get home is to ease on down the road to see the Wiz.
What's the difference between The Wiz and The Wizard of Oz?
Since The Wiz is more overtly political, it's notably more dramatic in tone than The Wizard of Oz. The Black main characters in The Wiz go through much more troubling circumstances and emotional journeys than the characters in the original source material.
The Wiz (1978) featured a star-studded cast of Black pop culture icons—including the likes of Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, and Richard Pryor, among others.
The Tin Man represents the factories and the factory workers during the time period of the 1890s, when the depression took place. Factories were shut down, and when the Tin Man is first found, he is so rusted that he cannot move. This scene in the movie represents this idea perfectly.
This is enough to please the Tin Woodman, who, with or without a heart, was all along the most tender and emotional of Dorothy's companions (just as the Scarecrow was the wisest and the Cowardly Lion the bravest).
Michael referred to Diana as his “mother, lover, and sister all rolled into one.” Metaphorically speaking, Diana isn't Michael's mother or sister and she wasn't his lover: it's how he saw her in his head and how he treated her at the time.
How old was Michael Jackson when he filmed The Wiz?
In 1977, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross filmed the Wiz in New York. He was 19 years old. Diana Ross, while filming The Wiz, was asked to Michael Jackson's apartment in New York and stayed the night. One of Diana's assistants said he had been trying to get hold of both of them all morning as they were late for filming.
Stephanie Mills *was* in serious consideration to reprise her Broadway role. This was when it was a lower budgeted production that was being produced by Motown Productions. Miss Ross got wind of it and she contacted Berry Gordy, who told her she was too old for the part.
