History Theatre / TheWiz

* CelebrityParadox: Despite living in what has to be the 2010s, Dorothy never notices all the uncanny parallels between her own experiences and the 1939 movie and 1900 book that are slavishly being copied here. (Of course, if she had been, she'd have been ridiculously GenreSavvy and the story could have ended much quicker.) Thus, one must conclude that, in the universe in which ''The Wiz'' takes place, [[ForWantOfANail L. Frank Baum]] never existed - or, if he did, he never penned his most famous work.

** The 2023 revival has one to ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', of all things; during "No Bad News", the ensemble follows up Evillene's "We can be the best of friends…" with "Thank you for being a friend!", in the exact same melody, no less.

* IAmSong: Subverted with both "Mean Ole Lion", the Cowardly Lion's introductory song, in which he presents himself as anything ''but'' cowardly, and "So You Wanted to Meet the Wizard" for the Wiz's flashy, smoke-and-mirrors entrance.

* MusicalisInterruptus: The second performance of "Ease On Down the Road" gets interrupted by the Cowardly Lion attempting to scare Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man with "I'm a Mean Ol' Lion". In the NBC special, the latter song's last note gets interrupted by Dorothy punching the Lion.
* NamedByTheAdaptation: In ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', none of the witches had any names, except for Glinda, the Good Witch of the South. In ''The Wiz'', the Wicked Witches have NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast, Evamean (the Wicked Witch of the East) and Evillene (the Wicked Witch of the West). The Good Witch of the North goes by Addaperle in the stage and NBC versions, and Miss One in the movie.

* VillainSong: "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News" for Evilene.

* TheMusical

* {{Camp}}

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* CostumePorn: Nearly nonstop. The original Broadway and NBC versions even won a Tony and an Emmy, respectively, for Best/Outstanding Costume Design. (The movie earned a nomination in the corresponding Oscar category, but lost to ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile''.)

* NiceShoes: The Silver Slippers. Even though Addaperle refers to them as a "secondhand" pair when giving them to Dorothy, Dorothy still calls them the nicest shoes she's ever owned.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: The Good Witch of the North does.

In early 2015, Creator/{{NBC}} and Creator/CirqueDuSoleil obtained the rights to produce a live, made-for-TV adaptation, following on from the network's moderately successful series of live musicals starting with ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic Live!'' in 2013 and ''Theatre/{{Peter Pan|1954}} Live!'' in 2014. Tony winner Kenny Leon directed his own who's who of African-American celebrities, including Music/QueenLatifah as the Wiz, and a newcomer as Dorothy, Shanice Williams. This version aired in December 2015, and followed the play more accurately than the movie did. However, the script does make its own embellishments, courtesy of Harvey Fierstein -- such as making Dorothy a native of Omaha, Nebraska, who struggled to adjust to life in her new Kansas town prior to landing in Oz.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The Lion and Evillene using the curses "hell" and "ass" in two separate scenes surprisingly didn't cost the telecast a G rating.

The musical briefly returned to Broadway in 1984, with another revival planned [[http://www.playbill.com/article/the-wiz-live-still-plans-to-come-to-broadway some time in the near future.]]

* IWantSong:
** Before Dorothy starts her journey to the Emerald City, she expresses her wishes to leave Oz in "Soon As I Get Home".
** The Tin Man longs for the capability for human emotion in "What Would I Do If I Could Feel?" In the play and the TV version, he sings this to the Wiz, while in the movie, he speak-sings it to Dorothy and Scarecrow before he joins them to meet the Wiz.

* GoLookAtTheDistraction: When Dorothy and her friends attempt to visit the Wiz again after their defeat of Evillene, the Bouncer informs them that the Wiz has banned him from allowing them back into the Emerald City. They convince the Bouncer to step out of their way by claiming to have taken a bag of gold from Evillene's lair, and hidden it in a hole "around the corner". He leaves his post to claim the gold for himself, giving Dorothy and her friends the opportunity to sneak into the Wiz's throne room.

* HairDecorations: In the original Broadway production, Dorothy wore red bows on her GirlishPigtails. The TV special featured her wearing a headband.

* GenderFlip: Played with; the Wiz is portrayed by Music/QueenLatifah, ''but'' is still addressed as male. [[spoiler: It is revealed that the Wiz was actually a woman all along, having been a former magician's assistant who disguised herself. Incidentally, the male Wizard from the book disguised as a woman, but only when talking with the Scarecrow.]]

* * MonochromeCasting: Traditionally, the ''entire'' cast is black.