Any screen musical that stars the legendary Diana Ross as the female lead must be caught. Any musical that features  Michael Jackson as a scarecrow without a brain is more definitely a must-see. With several other musicals depicting the story of "The Wizard Of Oz", "The Wiz", based on the Broadway show of the same name, markets itself as an updated, urban, African-Americanized soul musical version. "Updated" it definitely is not given that this lavish adaptation was filmed close to 3 decades ago when it was the largest production filmed in New York City. This musical will probably not outlast the longevity of Judy Garland's 1939 classic "The Wizard Of Oz" but its star-studded cast and the New York landmarks featured in the Land of Oz make this a Motown production worth watching.

Diana Ross plays the 24 year-old Harlem Kindergarten school teacher Dorothy who does not like change. She does not want to become a high school teacher, travel about the city or act without a perpetually worried / shocked expression on her face. Caught in a snowstorm, Dorothy is magically transported to the Land of Oz where she meets the brainless Scarecrow (Michael Jackson), heartless (literally) Tin-Man (Nipsey Russell) and cowardly Lion (Ted Ross). Together, they travel to find the sagacious Wizard of Oz in the hope that they would get their wishes answered - Dorothy would go home, Scarecrow would get a brain, Tin-Man would get a heart and Lion would get courage. Along the way, two witches are killed, the characters dance with crows and motorcycle-riding flying monkeys, they discover that the Wiz is a fraud and everyone learns the invaluable lesson that they had to look within themselves to find what they desired all along.

Ross does not appear at first glance to be the natural choice for the role of Dorothy. She spends most of the movie acting depressed (with the exception of during the song "A Brand New Day" where she appears possessed) and she isn't completely believable at times - surely a major failing for any actor. Her solos like "Can I Go On" and "Believe In Yourself" are not instantly memorable or hummable to first-time viewers and - horrors of horrors -, Glinda The Good Witch (Lena Horne)'s rendition of "Believe In Yourself" actually sounds better than Ross's. The closing song by Ross, "Home", has a certain degree of emotional depth but even then, it probably will not make too frequent an appearance in any female vocalist's favourite Broadway songs album. On a side-note, in her her unauthorized biography "Call Her Ms. Ross", Ross was hospitalized (and nearly blinded) by a lighting effect used in this movie.

The other key members of the cast fare better in their roles. Nipsey Russell puts on an endearing performance as the wise-cracking tin-man and Ted Ross convincingly does the best he can in a shoddy Lion's costume. Michael Jackson makes his entrance strung from a pole as the brainless Scarecrow and surprising, he acts pretty well. His lucid, clear vocals in "You Can't Win" with the crows are also so reminiscent of the Michael Jackson of the old, as is his evanescent verve when he energetically dances with Ross in the song "Ease On Down The Road". (View the movie clip of Michael Jackson singing "You Can't Win")As the scarecrow, he follows Ross's Dorothy to find The Wizard to, in Dorothy's words, "get some brains". Surely one would have been sufficient?

Mabel King plays the whip-wielding Wicked Witch of the West who owns a sweat shop complete with the token minions. While initially seeming like an interesting character during her number "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News", she quickly descends subsequently into any random evil character plucked from a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers show.

Song-wise, it is a safe bet to say that the musical by Charlie Smalls does not feature many memorable pieces. The opening gospel song "The Feeling That We Have" by Dorothy's mother (Theresa Meritt) and the family choir about how fast her daughter Dorothy is growing doesn't do anything for me. Neither does the ensemble piece "Emerald City" where the choreographed dancing distracts from the song, rather than enriches the song. Tune-wise, the most catchy and memorable has to be "Ease On Down The Road" - no doubt helped by being reprised no less than four times including at the end credits

What is unique about this production is how the story of Oz is set in an urban setting of New York. The Wicked Witch From The East, who is killed in the opening scene by a falling signboard, is the parks department commissioner who turned the Munchkins into the graffiti artwork that they painted in the park. Incidentally, the Munchkins in this production are probably the most irritating Munchkins I have ever seen in any play or musical incarnation of The Wizard of Oz. The acrobatics they do look mightily fine but their puerile antics and incessantly squealing start to grate after a while, so much so that one almost understands why the Wicked Witch from the East turned them into stationary, non-moving artwork.

New York landmarks play a major part in this movie musical. The yellow brick road that Dorothy and friends follow extends into a subway station and across Brooklyn Bridge; thrash bins become monsters attacking the characters in the subway station; New York Cabs are seen during their journey and the characters stay in an a Motel named after Emerald City. Most significantly of all, the Emerald City Citizens sing and dance the song "Emerald City" below the majestically lit World Trade Center Twin Towers.

The Wiz was nominated for four Oscars in 1979 including the category of "Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score" but did not win in any of them. There are several inadequacies like the director Sidney Lumet's penchant to film the musical as it is without any movement of the camera or close-up shots and bad-lighting in several scenes but this screen musical will undoubtedly have its own group of fans and numerous school productions. Films immortalize landmarks and key landscape characteristics and "The Oz" proves to be an important case in point.

 Reviewed on 11 April 2006