Subject
The Wiz; Ken Harper; Musical
Description
On Dec. 3, NBC will air a live production of “The Wiz,” a musical that has been a huge audience draw for 40 years. But that Yellow Brick Road was nearly a dead end, because the show almost closed before it got to Broadway in 1975. And, interestingly, its savior was television.
Producer Ken Harper came up with the idea for an all-black musical version of “The Wizard of Oz” in 1972, since it was in public domain. Fox agreed to back the show in exchange for a first option on a film version, publishing rights and first option on the soundtrack album. It was capitalized at $650,000. The show had tryouts in Baltimore, Detroit and Philadelphia but at each stop, Harper considered shutting down the show because business was so slow.
Creator
By Tim Gray
Source
https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/the-wiz-broadway-tv-1201651417/
Publisher
variety.com
File
