The Wiz (partially lost TV spot for Broadway musical; 1975)

The poster for the original Broadway production.

Status: Lost

The musical The Wiz presents an updated retelling of the children's story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It traditionally boasts an all African-American cast, and also had African-Americans perform such conceptual duties as writing the songs. It opened on Broadway in 1975, to mixed reviews. In order to boost ticket sales, investor 20th Century Fox commissioned an aggressive advertising campaign. At the center, lay a TV spot accompanying images of the show with audio of the main characters' travelling anthem, "Ease On Down the Road".

The advertisements succeeded in convincing more people to watch The Wiz. Word of mouth became so positive that the show ran for four years on Broadway. Along the way, it earned seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It lives on today in re-stagings both professional and amateur and through the continued popularity of such numbers as "Ease On Down the Road". The Wiz also inspired two star-studded screen adaptations: a cult classic 1978 movie starring, among others, Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson (in one of his only film performances) as the Scarecrow, and an Emmy-winning 2015 TV special headlined by Queen Latifah as The Wiz.

As of September 2016, the TV spot that helped save The Wiz remains unavailable to watch online. The oldest promo YouTube has for the musical comes from later in the original Broadway run. It apparently features almost none of the original cast, save Stephanie Mills as Dorothy. It also showcases the song "If You Believe" (also known as, "Believe in Yourself"), instead of "Ease On Down the Road". However, since this version has different lyrics, it doesn't feel like a complete loss.

External Links

• The Wiz: A Virtual Coffee Table Book
• A three-part article from the Oz Museum, tracing the history of The Wiz from its Broadway premiere to the greenlighting of the TV special and a subsequent Broadway revival:
  • Part One
  • Part Two
  • Part Three
• "Ease On Down the Road" as heard on the Original Broadway Cast Recording