nipsey russell played the tin man on the wiz.
nipsey russell played the tin man on the wiz.
who plays the tin man on the wiz?
nipsey russell
"a brand new day", also known as "everybody rejoice", is a song from the 1975 broadway musical "the wiz" written by american r&b singer and songwriter luther vandross. (in 1976 vandross recorded a version of the song for his album "luther", on cotillion records.) in the play, the song is sung to celebrate after dorothy has killed evilene, the tyrannical wicked witch of the west. dorothy, the tin man, the cowardly lion, and the scarecrow sing the song with the newly freed winkies, who were ruled and enslaved by evilene. it was later featured in the 1978 film version, sung by cast members diana ross, michael jackson, nipsey russell, and ted ross (credited as the wiz stars). given the all-black cast of "the wiz", the song's many references to freedom and new possibilities (especially as sung by african american characters who had just been freed from enslavement) certainly invoked the struggles and history of blacks in america. in the onscreen version of the song, nipsey russell can even be heard exclaiming "free at last!"—a reference to civil rights activist martin luther king jr. (his impromptu addition to the song is not heard on the soundtrack album version, instead replaced by sung vocals by diana ross.) the song's opening line is sung by luther vandross, the song's composer.
a brand new day (the wiz song)
bullet::::- in the classic 1939 film "the wizard of oz", the tin man was played by actor jack haley. originally, ray bolger was cast to play the role of tin man, despite his desire to play the scarecrow. buddy ebsen was, at the time, cast as scarecrow, and was convinced to swap roles with bolger. while this pleased bolger, it led to medical problems for ebsen. the tin man's makeup originally contained aluminum powder which got into ebsen's lungs, bringing him to the edge of death. he was rushed to a hospital and had to give up the role. despite this, and the fact that the tin man's makeup was changed to a safer aluminum paste, ebsen went on to outlive both bolger and haley. haley based his breathy speaking style in the movie on the voice he used for telling his son bedtime stories. his portrayal of the character is by far the most famous. there is no explanation in the film of how the tin man became the tin man. it is subtly implied that he was always made of tin; the only reference to the tinsmith is the tin man's remark "the tinsmith forgot to give me a heart". unlike the costumes of the scarecrow (in the national museum of american history) and cowardly lion (two sets in private hands), that of the tin man "was largely destroyed". haley also portrayed the tin man's kansas counterpart, hickory (one of aunt em and uncle henry's farmworkers). screenwriter noel langley created this character for the film. hickory helps zeke (lion's alter ego) lower a bed into its place on a wagon at the farm. unlike zeke, hickory and hunk (scarecrow's alter ego) lose their hats with uncle henry as they struggle to open the cellar when the tornado approaches the farm. he reunites with dorothy when she awakes from being unconscious. hickory is seen with aunt em, uncle henry, zeke, and hunk as well as professor marvel (the wizard's alter ego).
tin woodman