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True Colors’ ‘Wiz’ kids
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW: ”The Wiz.” Through Dec. 30
One day, it’s the Great White Way. Next day, the Yellow Brick Road.
Sailing on waves of critical adoration for his Broadway staging of August Wilson’s ”Gem of the Ocean,” Kenny Leon returns home to deliver a funhouse holiday package from somewhere over the urban rainbow.
We’re talking about ”The Wiz,” William F. Brown and Charlie Smalls’ 1975 funkadelic retelling of ”The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,”’ which Leon reimagines here with an all-youth cast for his Atlanta-based True Colors Theatre.
Working in and around Guy Tuttle’s set, which resembles an exploded McDonald’s playground, these ”Wiz” kids shatter the cuteness meter with their indefatigable mixture of courage, heart and brains.
While Tatiana McConnico’s silver-slippered Dorothy, Devere Rogers’ preening cowardly Lion, Tory Thurman’s scattershot Scarecrow and Richard Miron’s creaky Tin Man all live up to the demands of these iconic roles, the entire ensemble sticks together like a Kansas tornado â€â€? mustering impressive acting, strong singing and the kind of exuberant dancing that can never be faked by older hoofers.
Credit must be given to choreographer Patdro Harris and music director J. Michael for turning these raw bundles of energy into soaring stars of the future.
From Miller Grove Middle School (Jeremy Williams), Greenfield Hebrew Academy (Jason Feldman), Tri-Cities High School (Rogers), Pace Academy (Victoria Petrosky-Silva), Morehouse College (Marcus Johnson) and Emory University (Kristen Wood), this is a groovy, talented and diverse bunch.
Rogers, who recently won a scholarship to New York University, is a booming baritone with a hysterical sense of comedic timing.
Born an ”only cub,” this vain, cowardly feline has spent years in therapy with an owl, and he’s more concerned with touching up his new hairdo than being a ”Mean Ole Lion.”
McConnico, who recently played young Celie in the Alliance Theatre’s ”Color Purple,” may be as tiny as a teardrop, but her singing ripples with emotion (”Home”). And Miron projects a natural charisma that’s winning without being showy.
Thurman’s performance is among the most detailed and thoughtful, yet it somehow gets lost under Sydney Roberts’ complicated costume.
At the same time, André C. Allen’s lighting is sometimes unnecessarily harsh, and the fog machines can create a hazy glare that feels more like an airport smoking lounge than the magical Emerald City.
But ”The Wiz” always finds ways to delight and surprise. The Yellow Bricks have attitude. The red Poppies are intoxicating. The Kalidahs are seductively spectral, and B.J. Myers’ screeching, somersaulting Monkey is terrific.
In a season glutted with familiar family entertainments, ”The Wiz” is a welcome diversion.
A meditation on the elemental urge to find one’s way home again, it’s particularly resonant at a time when we celebrate peace, comfort and joy.
The verdict: Ease on down to the ticket booth.
SHOW INFORMATION: 2:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; Dec. 22-24; Dec. 27, Dec. 29 and Dec. 30; 7:30 p.m. tonight-Saturday; Dec. 21-23 and Dec. 27-30. $18-$30. True Colors Theatre, 7 Stages, 1105 Euclid Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-523-7647, www.truecolorstheatre company.com.
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