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Youngstown Playhouse presents urban musical 'The Wiz'
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
“The Wiz,” according to Carla D. Gipson, is “a contemporary classic, an urban classic and a fun story that everyone loves, rewritten and with new music.”
It’s also the splashy musical that will close the mainstage season at the Youngstown Playhouse.
“The Wiz” opens Friday and runs for two weekends.
Gipson is directing the production, which boasts a cast of 45.
Based on “The Wizard of Oz,” the musical premiered on Broadway in 1975 and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. It was considered groundbreaking at the time for a number of reasons, including its all-black cast, and for successfully bringing urban sensibilities into the mainstream theater.
In 1978, it was released as a popular — but critically panned — film starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. The film shifted the setting to modern-day New York City.
“For the generation that grew up in the ’80s, [the film version] is all they know of ‘The Wiz’,” said Gipson. “But it’s not the same as the stage version.”
For example, the musical is set in Kansas, same as “The Wizard of Oz.”
The musical is seldom performed in the area, said Gipson, who was the prop mistress in a 1988 production at the Playhouse.
When the audition notice went up for the current production, Gipson was swarmed with interested people. “I turned no one away for the cast,” she said. “There should always be a place for you in community theater, and they are talented.”
The youngest cast member is 8, and the oldest is in their 60s. “There is a wide range of men and women, the whole gamut, all having a good time and using their talent. It’s a testament to the talent we have in the city, and it’s wonderful to have an opportunity to display it.” Regardless of its treatment, the timeless message of the piece remains intact.
“It’s about growing up and believing in yourself but reaching out to the world,” said Gipson, who noted that the structure and roles of “Oz” are also unchanged. Dorothy has the same friends as in “The Wizard of Oz,” and she loses consciousness. “It’s her dream that we are watching unfold,” said Gipson.
But “The Wiz,” she said, has characteristics that set it apart.
“It’s fun, funky, with gospel and soulful music, kooky characters and lots of dancing and singing,” she said.
The choreographers are Doreen Black and Lindsay Renae Benton. “There is a tremendous amount of choreography,” said Gipson.
Nancy Wolfgang, a musical-theater professor at Youngstown State University, is the music director, and she has assembled a band for the performances.
Joyce Jones is stage manager.
Leading the cast, and making her Playhouse debut, is Destiny Hughes as Dorothy. Supporting her is Lynette Frost Brown (Aunt Em), D.C. Colvin (Uncle Henry), Nikita Jones (Addaperle), James Major Burns (Scarecrow), Joshua Green (Tinman), Daniel Colvin (Lion), Jacinda Madison (Evillene), Leslie Kitchen (Glinda) and Keith Baker (The Wiz). A live dog named April will be Toto, Dorothy’s pet.
Gipson’s recent directorial work includes a 2013 production of “Six Nights in the Black Belt” at the Playhouse’s Moyer Room, as well as recent productions of “Gee’s Bend” and “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.”