The Wiz – Paramount Theatre

The touring, modern revival of The Wiz had its first stop in Seattle. The Wiz has a lot going for it. Large voices, interesting and creative sets, fun costumes, singing, dancing, huge musical numbers…all my jam. The performers were all very good, with some big, big voices. I particularly enjoyed the camaraderie between Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion, and all of their numbers together, with Scarecrow particularly bringing a lot of levity to his scenes.   Every time a witch, or a wizard,  showed up to chew some scenery and show off a multi-octave voice was a good time.  The Wicked Witch of the West was a particular stand-out: An amazing musical number to show off her pipes, hilariously evil. Her death scene was great. The sets and costumes were a cornucopia of color: vibrant, fun, and interesting. My one gripe is that the set design relied very heavily  on animation/ video screens, which I didn’t love. On the other hand, there were creative choices with dancers to show the tornado, crows, and poppies that I thought were interesting and fun.  The Wiz was visually amazing.

While all these pieces were there, as a whole, the show was missing something for me. I had to ponder a bit on it, because there was so much to love about The Wiz. The show didn’t quite have the emotional punch I expected. The pacing seemed a bit off, and I didn’t feel Dorothy’s longing to go home, not even during Home.  This might have been just me, because the audience loved it. The Wiz is a vibrant show with fun musical numbers, colorful characters and talented performers. I look forward too seeing what some of the performers from The Wiz do next.