The Wiz (film) certain we didn't use anything from it. They made a brilliant movie, and even though our concept is different – they're Kansas, we're New York; they're white, we're black, and the score and the books are totally different – we wanted to make sure that we never overlapped in any area." Michael Jackson, a former Motown star and close friend of Diana Ross was cast as the Scarecrow. By the start of development on "The Wiz" in 1977, he and his brothers The Jacksons, had left Motown for Epic Records, though Jackson had yet to make a solo album since
The Wiz Live! The Wiz Live! The Wiz Live! is a television special that aired live on NBC on December 3, 2015. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, it is a performance of a new adaptation of the 1975 Broadway musical "The Wiz", a soul/R&B reinterpretation of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". The broadcast is performed live from Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York. This adaptation of the musical combines aspects of both the Broadway play and its 1978 film adaptation. Pit voices were provided by Broadway Inspirational Voices. Source: Broadway World All numbers composed by Charlie Smalls save