The Wiz: Tiny Desk Concert

From the creator

Mitra I. Arthur | July 12, 2024 One afternoon the Tiny Desk traveled to Emerald City. Or rather, we got to meet the cast of the newest Broadway revival of The Wiz. Debuting in Baltimore, Md. in 1974, the musical unapologetically centered Black culture in its reenvisioning of The Wizard Of Oz and helped usher in a new era of Black theatrical storytelling. In its various stage productions and 1978 screen adaptation, audiences for The Wiz get to see a futuristic and fantastical depiction of the Black imagination. As an 8-year-old, seeing The Wiz ignited my love of musical theater. I have no doubt countless audiences will feel the same joy and awe I felt when this new imagining of The Wiz goes back on tour at the top of 2025. The mystique in Alan Mingo, Jr.'s performance of “Meet the Wizard” as The Wiz illustrates that even when Broadway casts visit the Tiny Desk out of costume and away from their sets, they can’t help but channel the physicality of the characters they portray eight times a week. Melody A. Betts’ Aunt Em provides a loving but firm correction of Dorothy (Nichelle Lewis) in “The Feeling We Once Had” that is both warm and familiar. Avery Wilson’s voice elastically dances up and down the notes in “You Can’t Win,” mimicking the way his limbs move as the Scarecrow. Phillip Johnson Richardson’s gut-wrenching performance of “What Would I Do If I Could Feel” will have your heart bursting and make you want to offer it to his Tinman. And the charming Kyle Ramar Freeman gav

Published 2024-07-12 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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