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
Mel Brooks a psychology major before being drafted into the army in 1944. He was placed in the Army Specialized Training Program and sent to the Virginia Military Institute to be taught skills such as military engineering and later underwent basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He served in the United States Army as a corporal in the 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion, 78th Infantry Division, defusing land mines as the allies advanced into Germany during World War II. As World War II came to an end Mel Brooks took part in organizing shows for Germans and for American Soldiers. After the war,