If you’ve been even remotely involved in recent pop culture, you’ll know that The Wizard of Oz has had a comeback. Jon M. Chu’s recent two-part Wicked blockbusters sparked a resurgence of interest in L. Frank Baum’s original book, Victor Fleming’s 1939 film, and ongoing Broadway Wicked productions, as the campiness surrounding the big screen adaptations – and Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s wacky ensuing press cycles – worked its way into social media memes and Gen Z slang. Over 100 years after its creation, Oz is back – and we can’t seem to get enough. The iconic story will soon hit the Austin stage once again, with its own unique voice and cultural lens.
The Wiz is “a retelling of the story from the Black perspective,” says assistant director Alan Mingo Jr., who also stars as the Wiz. “What we did right with this production is we made it timeless” by adapting it for younger generations and audiences.
A revival of the 1974 Tony Award-winning all-Black Broadway hit, this staging of The Wiz reimagines the Seventies original by placing it in a contemporary 2020s setting to make it relevant to the modern viewer and future generations. Inspired by both the play and Sidney Lumet’s 1978 film adaptation starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, director Schele Williams (The Notebook), choreographer JaQuel Knight, and TV writer Amber Ruffin (contributing additional material to the book) bring modern perspective, language, and music to their celebration of Black Oz. The touring production premieres at UT’s Bass Concert Hall on May 12 as part of Texas Performing Arts’ 2025-26 Broadway in Austin season.
“Musically, we took out the sound of the Seventies and freshened up the underscore of the music,” Mingo says, pointing to hip-hop additions to the original soul and funk score. The production also incorporates modern slang and cultural references, says star Phoenix Assata LaFreniere, who makes her debut as Dorothy.
While 22-year-old LaFreniere didn’t grow up with the original Broadway musical, she’s seen the movie “a billion times,” and knows she has some big shoes to fill. Her young age, however, allows her to easily connect with younger generations, which she says helped her create Dorothy’s “strong, a little bit spunky, and very silly” persona, – aka a younger version of herself. The character comes naturally to her, she says, because she just has to act her age. “I’m saying things I’d normally say, and it helps engage the audience more.”
While this will be Mingo’s sixth Broadway tour, having held lead roles in Kinky Boots, Shrek the Musical, The Little Mermaid, Hairspray, and The Lion King, this show has always held a special place in his heart.
“Seeing The Wiz as a kid and seeing people that look like me and sound like me is the reason I’m in the biz today,” he says. This tour marks his fourth time in a Wizard of Oz production, and he’s come a long way from his first casting as the Yellow Brick Road in a production of The Wiz during his freshman year in college – a role that consisted of him and three others carrying gold rods to guide Dorothy in her quest to meet the Wizard.
Mingo describes his new version of the Wiz as “Willy Wonka meets Samuel L. Jackson.” He’s someone that “you love to hate and hate to love,” with an “ego bigger than life,” he says, which has always been the core essence of the Wizard. While this adaptation includes fresh music, young performers, and modern references, he assures us that the heart of the production remains the same: It is meant to be a celebration.
LaFreniere says the opportunity to bring an all-Black creative team and perspective to the historically white American classic is “very powerful.” At a time of intense political polarization, federal efforts to dismantle DEI policies, and ongoing racial violence and persecution, the representation is, arguably, as important as ever.
Through honoring and expressing the roots of Black culture, Mingo hopes the show will bring audiences of all backgrounds and identities together. Two audience members can enter the theatre and react differently to the show at first, he explains, but by the end their reactions and emotions become the same, because that is the community environment the show fosters.
“A majority of our commercial theatre is built on Black pain. The Wiz is just joy,” Mingo says. “It makes you wanna dance, even if you aren’t Black. It’s like going to a great concert: You may not be able to shout all the lyrics at first, but after an hour or so it gets so contagious and you join in. That, to me, is great art.”
The Wiz concludes its North American tour with its original revival cast on May 31 before returning to Broadway with a new lineup in August. Mingo is excited to bring the story to Austin, which he describes as a very special place for artists.
“There’s an awareness of artistry, and you can tell,” he says. “There are very few cities left in America that feel like an artist’s haven, and Austin is one of them.”
The Wiz runs at Bass Concert Hall from May 12-17.