A Broadway Musical the black-themed musical itself. "The Wiz" proved to be Brown's only success. Following a dismal October–November tryout with Helen Gallagher and Julius LaRosa at the theatre in the Riverside Church in Morningside Heights, the producers fired most of the cast and creative personnel, including director/choreographer George Faison. Gower Champion was called in to rescue the Broadway-bound production with only a month to go, but he feared that the show's defects were too serious to remedy and insisted on receiving a "Production supervised by" credit only. After 14 previews, the Broadway production opened and closed the same night at the Lunt-Fontanne
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (musical) shows which had proven to be successful on Broadway. Originally rehearsed in English, then retaught in German, the musical opened on June 5, 1999, for the opening of a theater named Berlin (now Theater am Potsdamer Platz). After a successful run - where 1.4 million visitors saw the play over 1204 performances - it closed in June 2002. Directed by Lapine, the German translation was by Michael Kunze, choreography by Lar Lubovitch, set design by Heidi Ettinger, costume design by Sue Blane, lighting by Rick Fisher, sound by Tony Meola and projections by Jerome Sirlin. The production cost 45 million