The Wiz

The Wiz plays the Majestic Theatre on Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, as part of an all-new national tour coming straight from Broadway. It's the Tony Award-winning musical retelling of The Wizard of Oz, and if you've never seen it, it's a bit different from the story you know. It won seven Tonys when it first opened on Broadway in 1975, and it's built around a score that pulls from soul, gospel, rock, and 70s funk, paired with choreography and design that don't hold back. You'll recognize the core of it—Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion easing on down the road and learning there's no place like home—but the sound and the style are all its own.

This particular production is a collaboration between Dallas Theater Center and Dallas Black Dance Theatre, the city's oldest continuously operating dance company. The credits run long, too: Charlie Smalls, George Faison, L. Frank Baum, Luther Vandross, Timothy Graphenreed, and William F. Brown are all listed as authors. The tour has been picking up praise as it moves across the country, with The Baltimore Sun noting the powerhouse performances, stunning choreography, and visionary sets, and the Chicago Sun-Times calling it an eye-popping, high-intensity revival.

For this run, the production includes Brierley Resident Acting Company members Liz Mikel and Hassan El-Amin. It's a big show that leans on its dance and music, so it's the kind of thing that works best in a theater like the Majestic. The two performances are Friday, October 30, at 7:30 PM and Saturday, October 31, at 3:30 PM, at the Majestic Theatre, 224 E Houston St, San Antonio, TX 78205.