Community Little Theatre’s The Wiz

This is my literary review paper. I had to write a review on a book or on a local performance, movie or something like that... I received an A on this paper, and then my professor asked if he could have a copy to give to the director!

On November 1 and 10, I went to watch the live performance of The Wiz. The Wiz was

put on by the Community Little Theatre (CLT) in Auburn, Maine and was directed by Nakesha K. Myrick, who was assisted by Mitchell C. Thomas; The Wiz was originally written by William F. Brown and the music was written by Charlie Small; its first performance was put on in 1975 (Ledingham). Brown wrote the The Wiz as a spin-off of the classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which was written by Frank L. Baum and published in 1900 (Greenberg). The Wiz is basically the same story as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but was made to represent the rough times the African Americans went through in the 1970s. Throughout the play, we were given illusions to the poverty and rough conditions of the African Americans.

The Wiz had almost the same plot as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, so I will not describe the whole story. The only variations from the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz I noticed were: almost everyone in the cast was an African American; the set in Oz looked similar to a run down city; the songs were much different (better, in my opinion) from the original; Dorothy’s slippers were sliver, not ruby; and we met both of the good witches. CLT’s performance also put in a few jokes here and there about the recent election and some “Maine jokes”, which added some good humor to the play.

From what I could see, the performance’s only flaw was that there was a few times in

which I could not hear a few actors sing or speak. This happened both nights, the second night was nowhere near as bad the first night. Besides the few times in which I could not hear the actors, the singing was superb. I have been to countless musicals put on by CLT and I think it is fair to say that the singing in The Wiz was their best. Aunt Em (played by Lena Warren) deserves a special mention. Even though she only sang one song, I would say she was the best singer in the performance.

The acting was great, all of the main characters were very well developed. The actors and

actresses managed to remain in their characters the entire performance, which I as an actor know can be pretty difficult. The actors and actresses had energy throughout the whole performance, yet another difficult feat accomplished.

In the past, a lot of CLT’s costuming was quite cheesy, however, that was not the case with The Wiz. They did a great job creating the costumes, especially the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow’s costumes. Their costumes made them almost seem real! As for the witches, they could have got away with almost anything, but CLT really excelled my expectations on the witches’ costumes: the witches’ dresses were all unique and well done. As for the Wizard? I loved his costume; it fit his character perfectly. The rest of the cast had decent costuming, but nothing that stood out.

A majority of CLT’s cast were children. The children and some adults played all the

Munchkins, the Flying Monkeys, the Winkies, the Crows and the Citizens of Oz. In acting, it can be hard to work with young children, but CLT did wonderfully directing the kids: they sang and danced very well. There were times where the kids had the whole crowd saying “Awe...”, which was fantastic.

After the play, I asked around what people thought. Almost everyone said, “I loved it!” or

“It was great!” Quite a few people said it was a great performance, but they wished that they could have heard the actors throughout the entire play, because there were times where they could not hear anything the actors were saying. My sister said she really liked the jazzy theme of the play. After the performance, my friend, Jenna said, “I don’t usually like musicals, so I wasn’t expecting to like it...but I loved this one!” Anyone who likes musicals or even someone who does not enjoy musicals would probably have enjoyed CLT’s performance of The Wiz.

Works Cited

Greenberg, Josh, Contributing W. "Wizard of Words L. Frank Baum Created the Endearing

Fantasy Land of Oz Walking the Walk." Syracuse Herald American: 17. Oct 06 1996. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 8 Dec. 2012 .

Ledingham, Jo. "L. Frank Baum Classic Meets Lady Gaga, Sarah Palin; Pop Culture-Infused

Wiz Eases on Down the Road." Vancouver Courier: 36. Apr 29 2011. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 14 Nov. 2012 .

The Wiz. By William F. Brown and Charlie Small. Dir. Nakesha K. Myrick and Mitchell C.

Thomas. Cond. Paul G. Caron. Chor. Audrey Martin and Tiffany Warren. Community Little Theatre, Auburn, Maine. 10 Nov. 2012. Performance.