Displaying items by tag: Deborah Cox

“The Wiz”, a retelling of the classic, L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the perfect show for its time when it opened on Broadway in 1975. Despite a closing notice posted on its opening night, it went on to win seven Tony Awards including Best Musical. This was in large part due to the tenacity of its 32-year-old African American producer (more on him later).  It made household names of its stars, Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, Hinton Battle replacing Comedian Stu Gilliam as the Scarecrow, Ted Ross as the cowardly lion and André De Shields as The Wizard. Written by William F. Brown with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, the show’s message of self-reliance and determination coupled with hope and empowerment was a powerful antidote to the cynicism and despair in America. The collaboration between Brown, Smalls and choreographer George Faison created an honest, heartwarmingly innocent production full of humor, excitement and most of all, heart.

Well, “The Wiz” has grown up and with it comes some growing pains.

I admire Amber Ruffin. She was a smart comedian on “The Daily Show” and a skilled comedy writer. She did an excellent job with “Some Like It Hot”.  The Wiz creates different challenges. I can understand a backstory in song, but the additional dialogue seemed to weight this production down. The pace was completely off in the first act.  I didn’t find the backstory of the Scarecrow, Tin Man or Lion very interesting or necessary.  As a child I felt the trio were characters Dorothy met along the way to the Emerald City nothing more. As I got older, I realized these characters could be seen as symbolic representations of different aspects of Dorothy’s personality. If additional material was needed I would have much rather Ruffin look forward than backwards. If these characters needed more story, I want to know where they are going, not where they’ve been. I would have liked the Wizard to be clearer in his explanation of why he was leaving OZ, seems kind of crude on his part.

There is a wealth of talent in this cast. Chicago’s own Melody A. Betts shines in the dual role of Aunt Em/Evillene. Deborah Cox as Glinda the Good Witch was another standout. I would suggest the ladies in this cast find the emotional depth rather than relying on vocal acrobatics. Runs and riffs convey vocal ability, which we know this cast has, it does not convey emotion.

I loved Nichelle Lewis as Dorothy. I’m sure with time she will understand the emotional journey Dorothy is on and her moments will come organically. Lewis has quite the voice. If Lewis learns to trust the music and lyrics, they can inform her emotional state. There were a few times, Lewis was ahead or behind the music because of her insistence on showing her musical range. Some of her vocal runs were self-serving and it took away from the emotional intensity. Sometimes it’s more powerful to whisper.

Avery Wilson has a sweet voice as The Scarecrow. I would have loved to hear him sing “I Was Born on The Day Before Yesterday” It would have given more depth to his character and I’m sure he would have risen to the task. The powers that be opted for the safe and popular “You Can’t Win”. (from the movie).

I would have loved to see more “mean” in Kyle Ramar Freeman’s lion, but his voice made up for any shortcomings. He was bold and entertaining if a bit corny, but I’ll allow it.

Phillip Johnson Richardson brought joy with his every move. It’s interesting, the character searching for a heart gave the most heartfelt performance of the evening. His “What Would I Do If I Could Feel” was a touching lament.

The costumes for this show are top-notch, although for the life of me, I don’t understand what Costume Designer Sharen Davis was going for with the Lion’s costume. Someone in the audience yelled as Glinda was exiting the stage …. “It’s the dress for me!” It was also the hair, wigs and make-up, excellent job.

The visuals did not stop there. The set, with projections by Daniel Brodie, scenic design by Hannah Beachler and lights by Ryan J. O’Gara brought this world, whether in black and white Kansas, A New Orleans style street celebration or an Afro-Centric Emerald City made to be dismantled, to life. No detail was too small. Grand set pieces moved with ease and precision. This is a big production.

As I’ve said before, this is a talented group. I was slightly underwhelmed by the tornado scene. It seemed very tame. Well done, but tame. The choreography by Jaquel Knight, a relative newcomer to the Broadway stage had some truly exciting elements to it and I see his influence growing.

This production will find the sweet spot between old and new. It will find the proper pacing and it will have an extended run in New York. How do I know? It’s gonna be a new show when it leaves Chicago.

Ease on down and see The Wiz!

Post Note:

This show has more than 50 producers, which brings me back to the 32-year-old sole producer of “The Wiz” circa 1974, In 1971, Kenneth Harper was an ex - disc jockey at WPIX radio in New York City. He came up with a concept to take the Frank L. Baum Book “The Wonderful Wizard of OZ” which then became a movie starring Judy Garland and turn it into a Top 40’s style Black musical comedy.  He noticed in the top ten songs on Billboard or Cashbox, at least 5 of them were by black artist. The Motown sound was marketable, and it was selling to Blacks as well as Whites. Kenneth Harper commissioned William F. Brown (a white guy) to adapt the “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” for an African American cast and Charlie Smalls to write the music. For the next three years Kenneth Harper shopped this concept to anyone who would listen. He finally found a buyer in 20^th Century Fox. In exchange for the all the rights of the production (film, publishing, album) they gave Kenneth Harper $650K with a 20% overcall (which he would need) After a tryout in Baltimore, “The Wiz” opened on Broadway to horrible reviews. Instead of calling it quits, Kenneth Harper did something extremely rare for the time. He used the 20% overcall and brought radio and television ads. It was not standard practice for Broadway shows to advertise on radio and TV. In New York City you couldn’t listen to the radio without hearing an ad for “The Wiz”, same with television. A week later The Wiz was selling out. They won 7 Tony awards, and the rest is history.

Kenneth Harper died January 22, 1988, at the age of 48.

It breaks my heart to imagine what could have been.

I’m donating in Kenneth Harper’s name to Broadway Cares/Equity fights AIDS                                            

I don’t want his memory lost; quasars come along so very rarely.

If you’d like to donate the link is below

https://donate.broadwaycares.org/give/140654/#!/donation/checkout

When: Through Dec. 10

Where: Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St.

Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Tickets: $55-$195 at 800-775-2000 and www.broadwayinchicago.com

The Bodyguard, The Musical begins with a bang!  Literally, the unexpected sound of gunshots combined with great strobe lighting effects made me (along with most of the audience) scream with delight and jump out of our seats!

I enjoyed this show from beginning to end with a strong starring lead in Deborah Cox and a very strong supporting cast of actors and dancers. I am a fan, though not a cult fan, of the 1992 movie The Bodyguard starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. Although I wasn't a Whitney Houston music fan per say, I have admired her amazing and formidable vocal talent as much as anyone else who has ever heard her sing. 

If you haven’t seen the movie from which this musical is based, it is the story of a successful music icon (Rachel Marron) who receives a string of death threats from an obsessed fan leading to the hiring of a bodyguard, Frank Farmer, who is taken on by the singer and her staff with a reluctant acquiescence at first. Frank comes with some baggage, but the former secret service man is good at what he does – very good. Frank quickly takes over security detail for the star and her ten-year-old son Fletcher. As the story progresses, the threats become more and more bizarre, the danger ever-increasing.  

I agree with the choice not to write any songs for Kevin Costner's character, played with super cool Costner-esque aloofness by Judson Mills, probably because it was just too hard to try to create any material for him that could compare with the huge and much beloved hits Whitney produced on the soundtrack for the film like “Greatest Love of All”, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”, “Run to You”, “Saving All My Love”, and “One Moment in Time”. 

Ironically, since that time Kevin Costner has become a professional singer/musician with his band Kevin Costner and Modern West, and although his band has played to audiences both large and small around the world - this is a fact many might not know. 

Yes, Judson seemed a little stiff in the role but I feel like he did his best to project a strong silent sexy type written for the subtlety of film then translated to a very large theater stage. There were a lot of pregnant pauses in his speech, but I think the writers could have added more humor and dialogue to his role as Frank Farmer to even out the fact that it is a musical in which he is the lead and does not get to sing. There was one really good laugh - not sure of it was intentional - but as we see Rachel slip out of the bed after her first night with Frank and he lays there still asleep, she immediately begins singing these lines from Whitney’s hit “All the Man That I Need”: 

“He fills me up 

He gives me love 

More love than I've ever seen 

He's all I've got” 

Rachel Marron played by Deborah Cox was absolutely spot on with the Whitney Houston songs thanks to her incredible voice. I really could have listened to her and Jasmin Richardson who played Rachel's little sister Nikki Marron sing Houston's hit all night, as they are both such amazing vocalists. Douglas Baldeo also does an incredible job as Rachel’s son, Fletcher. Baldeo has an amazing future ahead of him, the child actor displaying boundless vocal range and dancing his way into the hearts of theatre goers. One of the play's most touching moments centered around a beautiful rendition of "Jesus Loves Me" performed by Cox, Richardson and Baldeo when Farmer hid the family at his father's cabin in the country.

It was a fun and entertaining idea to use the film as the basis for this musical. The whole point of Frank Farmer's entrance and brief love affair in the movie was to teach Rachel that she is undervaluing her own well-being and safety by refusing to let a bodyguard change her way of life.

Frank Farmer is the sexy, masculine protective glass picture frame through which we get to admire, to actually magnify Rachel’s great beauty and talent. It is realized just how important protection is needed of a woman so gifted to her family and to the public - her adoring fans. 

Kevin Costner fought to get Houston cast in the role at a time when an interracial relationship was a much more risqué subject. Thanks to his persistence we have the classic that exists today and its current stage version.

Every time I heard Deborah Cox' wonderful voice ring out with Houston's trademark magnificence, I wished the real Whitney Houston had found a "bodyguard" to watch over her own short life. It is a tragic spin that a strong, down to earth man like Frank Farmer may have protected her and kept her from the fast track of drugs and non-stop pressure to produce hits. Whitney Houston might still be with us today.

Highly recommended as a fun date show and must see for any Whitney Houston fans. The Bodyguard is being performed at Oriental Theatre through February 12th. For more information on this exciting show, click here.