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Showing posts with the label #MichaelJackson

On its 40th anniversary, a look at how 'The Wiz' forever changed black culture

#TheWiz #DianaRoss #LenaHorne #MichaelJackson #QuincyJones #SidneyLumet #StephanieMills Forty years after its original release, no film has uniquely defined black culture and shaped the framework of a musical genre quite like “The Wiz.” An adaptation of the groundbreaking Broadway musical — itself a retelling of L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 children's fantasy “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” that became the beloved Judy Garland movie — the Sidney Lumet-directed film had a rapturous soundtrack produced by Quincy Jones, a cast that included Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Lena Horne, Nipsey Russell, Mabel King and Richard Pryor and an aesthetic firmly rooted in black culture. For a generation of black Americans, this was the first time they saw people who spoke, sung and moved the way they did in a Broadway production and, later, a big-screen musical, and it has become a kind of rite of passage for the black community. Everyone remembers their first time experiencing “The Wiz.” I

"Home" from the last act of the "The Wiz"

      From the last act of the "The Wiz" soundtrack   Home Suddenly, My World Has Changed its Face But I still know where I'm going I have had my mind spun around in space And yet, I've watched it growing If you're listening God Please don't make it hard to know If we should believe in the things that we see Tell us, should we run away Should we try and stay Or would it be better just to let things be? Living here, in this brand-new world Might be a fantasy But it taught me to love So it's real, real to me And I've learned That we must look inside our hearts To find a world full of love Like yours Like mine Like home #TheWiz,#LenaHorne,#StephanieMills,#MichaelJackson,#QuincyJones,#DianaRoss,#SidneyLumet,#home CREDITS: TM & © Universal (1978) Cast: Diana Ross Director: Sidney Lumet Producers: Rob Cohen, Kenneth Harper, Burtt Harris, Berry Gordy Screenwriters: L. Frank Baum, William F. Brown, Joel Schumacher