*Does not include Crossword-only or Cooking-only subscribers. Mabel King, an actress and singer best known for her portrayal of Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the Broadway and movie productions of ''The Wiz'' and her role as the mother in the mid-70's television comedy ''What's Happening!
The first witch Dorothy meets is the Good Witch of the North, who gives her the silver slippers and starts her on her journey to the Emerald City. Of course, the Wicked Witch of the West is the main villain of the story, who Dorothy has to destroy in order for the Wizard of Oz to grant her wishes.
Mabel King is best-known for the role of Mama on the 1970's sitcom What's Happening!, but she also appeared in the films The Jerk with Steve Martin and The Wiz with Michael Jackson. Before What's Happening!, she portrayed the Wicked Witch of the West in the Broadway version of The Wiz.
Who was in the original cast of The Wiz on Broadway?
The original production starred Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, Tiger Haynes as the Tinman, Ted Ross as the Lion, Hinton Battle as the Scarecrow, Clarice Taylor as Addaperle, Mabel King as Evillene, André De Shields as the Wiz, and Dee Dee Bridgewateer as Glinda alongside Tasha Thomas, Phylicia Ayers-Allen, Leettie Battle, ...
The Wiz (1/8) Movie CLIP - The Crow Anthem (1978) HD
Who did Diana Ross replace in The Wiz?
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.
After graduating magna cum laude from Howard University, Rashad began her professional career on Broadway, including understudying Deena Jones in Dreamgirls (1982) and playing a Munchkin in The Wiz (1977).
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.
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.
In The Wiz (1974), its film version (1978), and television special (2015), the Wicked Witch of the West is given the name Evillene (portrayed by Mabel King in both the original Broadway cast and the film, and Mary J. Blige in the television special). She is the malevolent ruler of the Winkies.
In the musical The Wiz, Glinda was originally played by Dee Dee Bridgewater in 1975, who won a Tony for her performance. She is depicted as a beautiful woman with appealing makeup and a luxurious pink dress. She is the most powerful witch.
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.
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.
In the Broadway musical The Wiz, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South, as she appears in the Oz books. She appears only once at the end of the musical to help Dorothy return to Kansas from the Land of Oz. Glinda is the sister of Addaperle (Abrakadabra), Evillene (Sadista), and Evvamean, the other three witches of Oz.
Critical reception. Critics panned The Wiz upon its October 1978 release. Many reviewers directed their criticism at Diana Ross, whom they believed was too old to play Dorothy. Most agreed that what had worked so successfully on stage simply did not translate well to the screen.
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.
Just so we are all on the same page, 71-year-old singer and icon Diana Ross is not pregnant. Not even a little bit. Rumours starting flying on social media that the singer might be defying science by having a child in her 70s after a photo appeared of her on Instagram with a rounded stomach.
Rhonda Ross Kendrick (born Rhonda Suzanne Silberstein; August 14, 1971) is an American singer and former actress. Kendrick is the daughter of singer and actress Diana Ross and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.
How old would Princess Diana be today? On July 1, 2023, Princess Diana would have turned 62 years old. While each year that passes is a reminder of the woman that the world lost, her legacy lives on through her sons, William and Harry, her five grandchildren and in the changes she inspired in the monarchy.
He wrote one of the climactic musical numbers (“Everybody Rejoice”) for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical and Academy Award nominated film The Wiz.
Do phylicia rashad and debbie allen have the same parents?
Mini Bio. Phylicia Rashad was born in Houston, Texas to African-American parents Vivian Elizabeth (Ayers), a poet and art director, and Andrew Arthur Allen, an orthodontist. As a child, Phylicia, her older brother Andrew (called Tex), and younger sister, dancer and actress Debbie Allen, lived in Mexico.
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).
