otheruses
The Wiz is a 1975 Broadway musical, based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, exclusively featuring African American actors. The play features music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, and its original cast featured Stephanie Mills, Hinton Battle, Tiger Haynes, Ted Ross, Dee Dee Bridgewater, André DeShields, Tasha Thomas and Mabel King. The show opened on January 5, 1975 at the Majestic Theatre and ended on January 28, 1979, running for 1,672 performances. A motion picture adaptation of The Wiz was produced in 1978 (see 1978 in film) by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures, starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, and Mabel King.

History

The musical marked the first time that all of the Wizard of Oz characters were portrayed as African Americans.