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“Ease on Down the Road”

Chapter 9 considers how the adaptation of MGM’s The Wizard of Oz has provided opportunities to recast the tale to speak to a specific audience while still retaining broad appeal. It explores both the 1975 stage production and the 1978 film adaptation of The Wiz, outlining how The Wizard of Oz story is reinvented as an urban, contemporary narrative of mobility informed by the African American and pan-African histories of diaspora and migration. At the same time, by examining the musical’s production history, content, and reception, the discussion also shows The Wiz to be adaptable in its ability to speak to multiple, fluid, and intersectional identities. Promoted as the “Super Soul Musical” version of The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz engaged with authenticating images and discourses of black representation that were current in the 1970s but sustained broad appeal beyond a single demographic, resulting in an interesting performance and reception history.