 Easing Down A Yellow Brick Road
is Not Always a Straight Line
By Robert Waddell, August 11, 2009
Years ago, this reviewer stood in line behind two young girls at a department store and heard them raving about going to Broadway to see “The Wiz,” with Stephanie Mills who performed the role of Dorothy. Later, this reviewer would have to sit through the abysmal film of the same name with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson thinking “How could anyone butcher a classic this way?”
Just the mention of “The Wizard of Oz” brings back memories of watching the MGM musical with Judy Garland year after year as a child. Difficult, certainly, to watch some other actor play Stanley in “A Street Car Named Desire” or other actors as George and Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” without thinking about the original.
After “Wicked” on Broadway, a cable series re-telling, Chevy Chase’s munchkin movie “Under the Rainbow,” and Bobby McFarin’s performance of the entire film, today, the idea of a flying monkey just turns my stomach. One can be saturated by too good a thing, a cliché, cultural over kill; I start feeling like a diabetic in the Lollypop Guild. The idea of watching another version of the Wizard of Oz made me want click my heels three times and say, “There’s no place like home….I want to go home.”
This was the challenge for the Harlem Repertory Theatre: How do you take something so culturally engrained and iconic and give it a new twist? Think “Twilight” and “True Blood” dealing with the Vampire myth; Clint Eastwood and the Western or “The Sopranos” and “Public Enemies” wrestling with the gangster genre.
However, all of that melts away in this year’s offering of “The Wiz” at HRT, performed at Aaron Davis Hall, grappling with the same conundrum of bringing back a familiar story of the girl lost in Oz trying to get back home with the help of three special friends while being pursued by a villainous witch. These agreeable characters were presented in this multi-cultural cast, directed by Keith Lee Grant.
After HRT’s wonderful productions of “Ain’t Misbehavin” and “Tambourines to Glory” last year, Grant again searches for a new perspective, a re-interpretation, on established work – In the “Wiz,” it’s the strength and spirituality of traveling on a life changing quest. Iconic Dorothy realizes that the answer to life’s questions lie not outward but inward.
The gospel, funk and soulful operatic quality of this musical is chock full of non-stop music, dance, convincing acting and great singing. You forget that you’re watching a show and get into the notable performances that come from Danyel Fulton, Alexandra Bernard, Scott Adams, Lynette Braxton, Eric Myles and Michael J. Overall their acting is humorous, heart felt, lifting one over material to deeper dimensions of humanity.
 Kyria Cameron, Yaritza Pizarro, Mabel Gomez, Tola Sean and Derrick Motalvo dance non-stop in choreography created by Grant, Gomez and Myles. As Flying Monkeys, the dancers are brilliant. Cameron and Pizarro especially exude fresh charm and dynamic grace on stage while bringing a sense of fun to their dancing roles. Musicians Eric Johnson, Scott Colbery and Chris Yetner enhance performances while never intruding on the actor’s work.
Natalia Peguero, as Glenda the Good Witch, is stunning, looking like a blonde amalgam of so many Disney princesses. If you ever envisioned a fairy godmother good witch protector, Peguero is my first choice. She modulates her voice with pensive passion and elated emotion. If she’s a witch, she’s a very good witch. She only improves her status by being the inventive and clever costume designer for the show. It’s hard to re-do a re-done classic but Peguero, and the rest of this skilled cast, make it all come together.
After watching the HRT’s production of “The Wiz,” which will be performed at Aaron Davis Hall until September 5th, one forgets how established the material is in our collective minds. Audiences are transfixed by the ebullient and dynamic performances. The work is fresh, new with a vitality and originality all its own, working well for both children and adults.
The Harlem Repertory Theatre’s version of “The Wiz” takes an audience member to a wonderful place of childhood fun and creative artistry on a brand new magic carpet ride of skilled actors, wonderful music and transcendent dance. The Yellow Brick Road may be old and worn but this a new street worth traveling.
This story was developed through the Education Beat Writing Fellowship at the New York Community Alliance. |
