thoughtcrumbs

Funky new year

I have seen The Wiz at least ten times. It had a far greater impression on me than the regular Wizard of Oz movie. As a child I would sing every lyric Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and Lena Horne uttered. At one point I even had the sheet music, so I would torture my parents with piano covers of Michael's existential crow anthem ("You Can't Win").

Tonight I got to share this silly, glorious movie with a bunch of friends, projected ten feet wide on Scott's living room wall. And I discovered details in the costuming and set design that had been obscured in my previous tv-bound viewings. Miss One has numbers in her wig. The subway entrance sign says "Get down."

Pure camp value aside, the movie does verge on musical genius, and it was thoroughly satisfying to hear everyone singing along to "Ease on Down" (the yellow brick road).