Page 8- The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 15, 1991
Michael Jackson beat it; The Wiz has come - -
by Julie Komorn
It all began in 1900 with L. Frank
Baum's children's story The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz.. While
some stage interpretations were per-
formed, it was Victor Flemming's
(mildly) popular 1939 film starring
Judy Garland which truly visualized
this much-cherished story. Then
Auntie Em and the clan hit Broad-
way in 1975 with The Wiz, a new
stage production of young Dorothy's
fantastic dream. An attempt to make
a Motown version featuring African-
Americans, the show's success gave
rise to stars such as Stephanie Mills
(Dorothy) and Andre De Sheilds (the
Wiz). Then Quincy Jones' film ren-
dition entered the entertainment
world with disco god and goddess
Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.
Now an Ann Arbor cast is ready
to transplant us from the ghettos of
Kansas City (no longer Kansas farm-
land) to the magical world of Oz.
While it keeps the familiar plot of
The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz pro-
vides dynamic, modernized devia-
tions. Munchkin Land has been
transformed into a '70s Disco Land
dripping with bell-bottoms and hip-
pies, which should be very hip for
the current retro scene.
The biggest amendment from the
film to the show lies inthe music
and dance styles. The Wiz replaces
the traditional Broadway musical
tunes with a playful mixture of rock,
gospel and soul music. The energetic
musical score gives life to up-beat
disco tunes like "No Bad News" and
"Ease On Down The Road." Of
course, slower songs are also in-
cluded, such as the semi-popular
"Home," which Mills revived last
year. Tonight's show will feature a
large range of dance, including mod-
ern and African dance, ballet, street
dancing and a Tin Man tap dance.
The whole crew of lovable char-
acters take on slightly new personal-
ities as well. The witches even get
new names - Glenda the Good
Witch is renamed Glinda, the Witch
of the East becomes Addaperle and
Evillene is the new Wicked Witch of
the West.
While the musical usually fea-
tures all African-American actors,
this production provides a large,
multi-cultural cast of 47 (including a
Mexican Wiz and a Caucasian Scare-
crow). Lighting designer Eric
Fehlauer says that the abstract sets
of stylized mushrooms and flashy
cornstalks "give a traditional, new
look for this particular show."
Added stage manager Cathrin Wie-
gandt, "Since (the audience) will be
carrying baggage from the film, (the
suggestive sets) will be able to sup-
ply the rest."
Dorothy's ruby slippers will be
easin' on down the road to the
Emerald Power Center where THE
WIZ will be performed tonight at
8:00 p.m. and tomorrow at 1:00 p.m
and 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $8 for
students, $5 for children, and
$12.50 for everyone else at the
Union ticket office.
Various Artists
Ear to the Street
MBT
Formed in 1987 at New York
University, MBT stands for Music
Business Technology and is basi-
cally a student project. What hap-
pens is a bunch of students decide
that they want "to have a hands-on
vehicle to actively study the music
industry while in college," and put
out some records of local bands and
all sorts of neat-o stuff like that. If
the people involved with this project
(record executive wanna-bes all of
them, I'm sure) think this is good
music, however, it's obvious they
won't go far in the music biz.
SEX
Continued from page 5
Works will move to a more intimate
forum - the School of Dance. But
size in no way hinders the regular
hoopla of School of Dance perfor-
mances. Along with the novel twist
of dancing to text, the choreogra-
phers have stuck with their proven
penchant for video projection, live
music, and funky props and cos-
tumes. Fogel and Sparling agree that
they derive a sense of personal com-
The basic problem is that the
project is limited to bands that are
"affiliated" with NYU. This make*
for a small talent pool (especially in
such a big city), and consequently,
this collection of five "guitar bands"
is full of unoriginal, badly-produced
and recorded, and just boring music.
Although one band, Dissonance, at-
most breaks out of this dreary mold
with some second-rate Red Hot Chili
Peppers imitations, it's not nearly
enough to save this hour-long disc
This might be a good resume-builde*
for the students involved, but would
someone please give these people
some taste?!? What an education.
-Mike Molitor
fort and just plain "good vibes"from
performing at the site where the
dances were created. The small size
and informality of Studio A should
also create a closer bond betwecr
dancer and audience.
FOGEL/SPARLING: DANCE
WORKS will be performed tonight
and tomorrow at 8 p.m. and Sunday
at 2 p.m. in the Studio A theater,
Dance Building. Tickets are $7 anti
can be purchased at the door or the
Dance Building during office hours.
Mary Beth Barber/ SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
The Wicked Witch (Rhonda Williams), center, is about ready to melt as
the rest of the cast surrounds her to watch. Dorothy just threw water on
her, but she doesn't look wet.
NCAA HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS
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Daily Fine Arts needs writers with backrnd in
clical music. Are you interested? Telephone
763-0379 and ask for Elizabeth Lenhard
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Michigan Wolverines vs Cc
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Aarch 17, 1991
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Daily Arts has a new
Dept., Fine Arts covering
Classical Music and Art
interested in writing for it?
telephone 763-0379
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Tower Plaza Announces '
Winner of 2 Round Trip Airline Tickets
to Ft Lauderdale
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On February 1, Francis Chang's name was drawn from all those who participated in Tower
Plaza's Special January Rental and Sales promotion. By touring all the great features of Tower
Plaza which include:
" An ideal canipus location! Just 1 block from classes with the city at your doorstep
" 24 hour concierge who keeps a watchful eye over the community
" Security entrance card system
: Spectacular views of the University and the Ann Arbor skyline
" aximum sound proofing
" Complimentary cable TV
" Dishwashers
" On site maintenance
" Business center with FAX, xerox, and postage stamp services
" Resident activities include "Exam Bagel Breakfast", "Tailgate Football Open Houses",
"Wednesday Night at the Movies", and more!
" Student lounge with TV screen and VCR
" Laundry room conveniences
FREE 7
M M EVEM
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