Who would you have cast in 1978's The Wiz?

Marie Osmond as Dorothy.

Dorothy: Brooke Shields

Scarecrow : Peter Frampton

Tinman : Andy Gibb

Lion: Leif Garrett

Wiz : Tom Jones

Glinda: Liza Minnelli

Aunt Em : Carol Channing

Evillene : Ethel Merman

Michael Jackson as 'Dorsey', a caring school teacher leading the children to a brand new day.

Whitney Houston was only 14 or 15 years old when The Wiz was being made - and she was a complete unknown at the time. Nice choice but no cigar.

No one could have convinced us quite like Diana Ross did that Dorothy was approaching a complete psychotic break when she landed in Oz.

Principal photography on The Wiz started October 1977. Whitney Houston was born in August of 1963. You do the math.

Math is hard!

Lucille Ball was going to play Dorothy, but Gary talked her out of it.

R6, Whitney would have been 14, two years younger than Garland in WOZ and one year younger than Stephanie Mills when she debuted on Broadway..

Stephanie could have played one of the midgets.

Aside from casting Mills in the lead (even if she wasn't known outside of Broadway), I would've excised the "valentine to NYC" concept, & stuck to the original story. I don't mind the rest of the cast, & especially like Michael Jackson as The Scarecrow, & Mabel King as Evilene.

I'd cast anyone who'd stab OP ten trillion times.

[quote] Lucille Ball was going to play Dorothy, but Gary talked her out of it."

Why not? If Julia Roberts can star as Harriet Tubman...

I love Diana Ross in the role

The Wiz cause Diana Ross's promising film career to crash and burn. She was too old for the role and it did not do well with the critics and at the box office.

If they had made in the eighties, Diana Ross would have been a terrific Glinda opposite an early career Whitney as Dorothy. Keep Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow. I think Eddie Murphy could have been a terrific as the Lion. Ben Vereen as the Tin Man. Marla Gibbs as Auntie Em. Jennifer Holliday as Evilene.

[quote] The thread on Diana Ross had a lot of opinions on The Wiz. Although the movie is revered in some sections of the Black community, others feel it's even worse than Lucy's Mame.

Was Lucy's Mame "revered in some sections of the white community?"

Cissy Houston could havre done Aunt Em opposite Whitney and Nell Carter should have played the Wicked Witch. Aside from the obvious and important plot point of her appearing after the house falls on the sister, the writers needed to add some snappy lines to the character and even a trademark line. If they came up with the equivalent of "Watch it, sucka", it would have been great. But Schumacher is way too inept for that.

Dorothy- Natalie Cole

Scarecrow- Michael Jackson

Tin Man- Nipsey Russell

The Lion- James Earl Jones. Imagine him singing "Mean Ole Lion"

The Wiz- Redd Fox

Glinda- Lena Horne

The Wicked Witch- Etta James

Good Witch- Ruby Dee

Aunt Em- Isabel Stanford

Diana Ross was considered for the Barbra Streisand role in “The Main Event.” I think I read that in a biography “Call Her Miss Ross.” It’s too bad that she didn’t have more film roles. She’s a fine actress. She should have been considered for roles that were cast for white female stars. She would’ve been wonderful in “A Star is Born” in the 70s.

Lawanda Page as Evilene and Redd Foxx as the Wizard.

Shirley Hemphill as Dotty

Ben Vereen was originally cast as the Tin Man but had to drop out.

I blame the script and the over-direction. The script of the stage musical is also weak (everything just happens to quickly, without any reflection whatsoever) but the direction of the movie took all the joy out of it.

Diana looked like a Giacometti sculpture with an afro in this movie.

R23 if it's true that Lumet wanted JJ Walker for the Scarecrow, that's proof enough that he shouldn't have been anywhere near the property.

I like Nipsy Russell as the Tin Man and Richard Pryor as the Wiz, but I would have carried the idea even further:

Slappy White: The Scarecrow

Redd Foxx: The Cowardly Lion

Shirley Hemphill: Dorothy

The Wiz is just not a very good show. The music is really bad, the writing is really bad and it's so much a result of the tine they were in. It did need an overhaul but the one they did for the movie is a disaster. When they pretty much stuck to the original script, like the NBC special, it was underwhelming. McAnuff did a nice revision but that's the best that could be said of it. Nice.

You'd have to be like Grease and dump the majority of the songs but you could keep Home and Ease on Down the Road.

The music is fantastic. Not just Home and Ease on Down the Road, but The Feeling We Once Had, Y'All Got It!, Everybody Rejoice/Brand New Day, Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News...

And the plot is tried and true. it's the same plot as the most beloved of American children's books and the most beloved of American children's movies.

Sorry but the score is appalling. Quincy Jones liked Home, Ease on Down and Everybody Rejoice (written by Luther Vandross) but hated everything else. The story itself is a classic but The Wiz wasn't. As often noted, having Eveline emerge at the beginning of the second act means that Dorothy had no villain for the entire first half.