When I interviewed Jackson Family matriarch Katherine Jackson (who celebrates her 96th birthday on May 4) in August 2013 at a dinner at Majestic Star Casino in Gary, we talked about Michael Jackson and his role in the 1978 feature film adaptation musical “The Wiz.”
“He loved that role of playing the scarecrow not only because he loved the story so much, but because he got to dance the part,” Katherine said.
More than 45 years later, “The Wiz” remains the same beloved Broadway classic which captured the hearts and rhythm of audiences of all ages even before the film version, back when the spun-tale was the Broadway big-ticket success as the stage musical of the same name which opened on Jan. 5, 1975, at the Majestic Theatre in New York and ran 1,672 performances before ending its run on Jan. 28, 1979.
The well-received New York Great White Way unveiling starred Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, Tony winner Ted Ross as The Cowardly Lion, and Mabel King as Evillene, The Wicked Witch of the West.
A National Broadway tour of “The Wiz” is now playing a Broadway In Chicago limited one-week run at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., now through Easter Sunday, April 5.
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Continuing the testimony of the late Michael Jackson and his mom about the power and spirit that is the art of dance, a group of selected students from Chicago Public Schools from Ray Graham Training Center who had recently put on a school production of “The Wiz” in December spent Wednesday morning in the rehearsal room of the Nederlander Theatre to learn choreography from the show taught by the touring musical’s dance captain, Jesse Jones, who is also the understudy for the show’s title role.
“I love spending teaching time with students because my own background is in dance education, and I’ve taught as an adjunct instructor when not on tour,” Jones said.
“It’s exciting outreach and builds confidence for students of any age.”
The Ray Graham Training Center, which has also served students from Northwest Indiana, has an important mission statement: “To offer all students an individualized instructional program that is designed to meet their unique educational, physical and emotional needs while participating in a specifically modified curriculum as well as having access to the general education curriculum within a safe and supportive environment for a developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive and community responsive education that assists our students in becoming productive members of society.”
Framed by the inspiration of the story by L. Frank Baum, the film version of ” The Wiz ” was written by Joel Schumacher, who went on to direct many great films like “The Client” and films in the “Batman” film franchise. It was produced by a partnership with Universal Pictures and Motown Productions to star Diana Ross as Dorothy, a 19-year-old Jackson as The Scarecrow, Nipsey Russell as The Tin Man, Lena Horne as Glinda the Good Witch of the North, Ted Ross as The Cowardly Lion, Richard Pryor as The Wiz and Mabel King (best known as the Mom on the TV series “What’s Happening!”) as Evillene, The Wicked Witch of the West.
The original film director John Badham was replaced by Sidney Lumet after Badham was told 18-year-old Stephanie Mills was not being allowed to play the part she originated on Broadway in favor of Ross being cast. Badham strongly objected to 33-year-old Ross playing a 14-year-old. Reportedly, it was Motown singer Ross who told Motown CEO Berry Gordy she wanted to be cast as Dorothy, and when he also declined, saying she was “too old,” Ross then contacted Rob Cohen of Universal Pictures and got him to agree to have his studio bankroll the film in partnership, if Ross got the part.
As for Michael Jackson, the studio had wanted TV star Jimmie Walker of the sitcom hit “Good Times” to play The Scarecrow. Also, it was Eartha Kitt originally selected to play the Witch role, but her outspoken persona had made recent headlines, resulting in the studios allowing King to retain her Broadway role for the film. Katherine Jackson told me that her husband Joe Jackson, who died at age 89 in 2018, hadn’t wanted Michael to play the movie role since it would require him to step away from his brothers and the Jackson Five act, which at the time was headlining Las Vegas with a lucrative contract.
Both the film and stage musical feature several favorite songs under the musical direction of Quincy Jones, with the most famous being the movie’s tune counterpart to “We’re Off to See the Wizard,” which is “Ease on Down the Road,” the song students from The Ray Graham Training Center learned paired choreography with during Wednesday’s dance workshop.
Ku-San Thomas, principal at The Ray Graham Training Center since 2019 and previously assistant principal since 2012, said partnered learning events such as Wednesday’s experience, enjoyed by 35 of her students, are the reason her school has been a success story since the 1970s.
“We are teaching a core education in addition to the life skills these young people will need after school, such as independent living, and even such basic needs as how to obtain an ID and Social Security card,” Thomas said.
“We recently had a young man who moved with his family from Northwest Indiana and attended our school as a recent graduate, and he is one of our success stories because of experiences like the students have available to them, like Wednesday’s partnership opportunity.”
Tickets for the Chicago run of “The Wiz” start at $80 at www.BroadwayInChicago.com, www.wizmusical.com or call 312-977-1700.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and radio show host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected].