The Wiz
Shubert Theatre
New Haven
Through Oct. 4, 2026
Scarecrows danced and witches melted while every single voice raised in song was as powerful as the tornado passing through Kansas Thursday night at the Shubert Theatre, where the groundbreaking musical The Wiz opened up the 2026-2027 Broadway season with joy and delight.
Though the show first premiered in New York back in 1975 (where it won 7 Tony awards, including Best Musical) and the original story was published back in 1900, it felt as bold and exciting as if it were brand new.
We all know the tale of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A young girl from Kansas gets taken away by a tornado into a new world where she meets a few new friends — a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion — and they help each other find their true selves. They meet witches, a wizard, and many other characters along the way and learn a lesson about how who we are is always there inside of us. First made famous in a novel by L. Frank Baum, it was memorably turned into a classic 1939 musical film by Victor Fleming that remains a cultural touchstone even today.
While that production and those songs remain indelible, The Wiz — with a book by William F. Brown and music by Charlie Smalls — took the same story and made another version of the fantasy, one with a combination of soul, R&B, gospel, and ’70s rock & roll and more modern dialogue and dance, plus an all African-American cast. That show also became a hit and was even famously adapted into its own film in 1978 starring, among others, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Richard Pryor.
On Thursday evening, the audience was treated to the second stop of this show’s most recent tour, one that will consist of five shows in New Haven over four days.
And what a treat it was.
From the moment the first few bars of the song “Ease on Down the Road” rose into the air, even before the curtain itself rose, there were cheers and applause. They were ready.
While I have never been the biggest fan of the film The Wizard of Oz (whose flying monkeys scared me for a decent part of childhood), I always respected its impact on culture, its songs and performance, and its central message. I have been and continue to be, however, a huge fan of The Wiz‘s film adaptation, even rewatching it earlier this week to get in the groove for this show. The music remains insanely catchy and inspiring. Finally seeing it performed live was a revelation.
The main cast — Gabby Simone as Dorothy, Jose E. Figueroa, Jr. as Scarecrow, Jaelen Spellman as Tinman, and Asher Havon as Lion — each brought charm and power to their performances, though every single vocal performance of the evening sent chills through me and seemed to shake the Shubert walls as if a real tornado was going on outside. From Dorothy and Auntie Em’s reassuring and inspiring version of “The Feeling We Once Had,” as they reminisced about losing Dorothy’s mother and starting over somewhere new, to the foursome’s bracing version of “Be a Lion” as they braved themselves to travel to meet The Wiz and ask for help, every single performance makes the listener feel as if they too can find the resolve to do anything they wish.
The dancing was off the charts as well, the performers often becoming living, breathing set pieces that helped bring the show to another level of life. Dancers in green bodysuits covered in pink flowers became the poppies that the Wicked Witch of the West, Evillene, uses to try to bring the foursome’s trip to a halt. Dancers in grey bodysuits with swirling, twirling capes become the tornado that lifts Dorothy’s house and delivers it from Kansas to Oz. Through it all, the audience was mesmerized.
There were a lot of laughs, too. For all the seriousness of the original story — houses falling on witches, the fear of being lost in a strange land — the dialogue kept it light quite often and garnered big reactions from the crowd, like when the both Lion and Evillene were concerned about messing up their hair.
But this show is over and over about the music. I dare anyone to go and not sing along with “Ease on Down the Road” each time it is reprised or the show-stopping, heart-swelling, life-affirming “Everybody Rejoice” — also known as “A Brand New Day” — which the cast started singing again after the final bow with so many of us joining in. Even if you’re not typically a sing-along-at-the-show type of person, maybe let loose this one time. It feels so good.
And once again, at its core, the story remains one that inspires. Auntie Em tells Dorothy early on, “The hard stuff is there to let you know just how good you got it,” a line that is repeated to Dorothy later in the show by Glinda, the Good Witch. There is certainly nothing wrong with all of us hearing that phrase and taking it home with us as well.
“The Wiz” runs through Sunday at the Shubert. Please see their website for more information, including tickets.
