Review: THE WIZ at Des Moines Performing Arts

It’s been almost 40 years since the last time “The Wiz” was on Broadway, and the show is currently starting to “Ease on Down the Road” and going on a pre-Broadway national tour. While it’s not scheduled to open on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre until March 29, 2024, you can see it through December 17 at Des Moines Performing Arts.  If the reaction from the audience is any indication of how it will be received on Broadway, then the show, like Dorothy, is on a journey that will lead them… “Home.”

If you don’t know about “The Wiz,” you probably know the classing story of “The Wizard of Oz” the show is based on.  While the show was created in the 70s, this version has what you love about the original script with some updated additional materials by comedian Amber Ruffin, that brings humor that today’s audiences will love.  The show also has new musical arrangements by Joseph Joubert and Allen René Louis that give the show a more modern feel.  My favorite arrangement of theirs had to be “He’s The Wiz.”

Visually this is an exciting show to watch.  The scenic design by Hannah Beachler and projection design by Daniel Brodie beautifully work together to take the audience to all the fantastic places we get to visit through the show.  The way they meld together allowed scenes like the tornado to elicit gasps from multiple people in the audience.  The sets and projections, along with costume design by Sharen Davis, take us on a colorful journey while giving nods to different elements from past iterations of the story.

The cast does a phenomenal job bringing this story to the stage with performances full of energy and joy. The performance I attended had three understudies, Mariah Lyttle, Jay Copeland, and Avilon Trust Tate in the roles of Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tinman.  All of them do an amazing job with these roles.  One of my favorite performances of the night came from Mariah Lyttle as Dororthy.  While the script sets up why Kansas doesn’t feel like home, Mariah beautifully takes us on a journey as she discovers what the word home means to her, and if Kansas is home.  The journey she takes us on pays off at the end of the show on a fairly bare stage singing the iconic “Home.”

While we had multiple understudies, we did get to see some of the amazing performances audiences will get to see in New York.  One of those was Kyle Ramar Freeman as the Lion.  He had the crowd laughing multiple times through the night as he delivered a more campy and fierce character.  The show also features two amazing vocal performances from Melody A. Betts as Aunt Em/Evilene and Deborah Cox as Glinda.  Both have multiple songs of different styles throughout the show.

Whether it’s your first time visiting Oz, or you are returning for another visit, the pre-Broadway tour of “The Wiz” has a little something for everyone.  The approach to the design, the additional materials, and the new orchestrations bring this classic story to life for a new generation.  As we near the holiday’s its always nice to be reminded home is what we define it as.  To find more information about “The Wiz” at Des Moines Performing Arts, or to get tickets to visit the link below,