The house lights dim at the Altria Theater, and for a moment, the ornate ceiling and gilded walls of the former Mosque feel less like a 1920s Shriner temple and more like a portal. Then the music hits — that unmistakable funk-gospel-soul fusion — and suddenly Dorothy isn’t in Kansas anymore. She’s in Harlem. And Richmond is about to ease on down the road.
‘The Wiz’ arrives at the Altria this month as part of Broadway in Richmond’s 2024-25 season, bringing with it a half-century of cultural weight that extends far beyond the footlights. When the show first opened on Broadway in 1975, it wasn’t just a reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s classic tale — it was a declaration. Black artists could take the most American of stories and make it undeniably, gloriously their own.
The original production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, beating out ‘Chicago’ in an upset that still reverberates through theater history. Stephanie Mills, just 16 years old, became a star as Dorothy. The 1978 film adaptation, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, became a touchstone for a generation of Black families who finally saw themselves in a fantasy world that had always seemed to belong to someone else.
This new touring production, which launched after a critically acclaimed Broadway revival, carries that legacy while finding fresh resonance. The creative team has updated the orchestrations while preserving the score’s essential character — those Charlie Smalls compositions that blend Motown polish with church choir power. Songs like ‘Home,’ ‘Ease on Down the Road,’ and ‘Believe in Yourself’ have become standards, covered by everyone from Whitney Houston to Beyoncé.
For Richmond audiences, the show arrives at a particularly resonant moment. The city’s own Black theater community has been experiencing a renaissance, with companies like the Conciliation Project and SPARC nurturing new generations of performers. Many of them grew up watching the film on VHS, dreaming of stages exactly like the Altria’s.
The venue itself adds another layer of meaning. Built in 1927 during an era of strict segregation, the Mosque (as older Richmonders still call it) once barred Black patrons from its main floor. Now it hosts a show created by and for Black artists, performed before an audience that reflects the city’s full diversity.
‘The Wiz’ runs for a limited engagement, with tickets available through Broadway in Richmond. The production features a full touring company and the elaborate sets that helped the original earn its reputation for visual spectacle — though the real magic, as always, lives in the music and the message it carries.
Dorothy’s journey from tornado-struck uncertainty to self-assured triumph has always been about finding courage in community. In a city still navigating its own complicated relationship with history and identity, that yellow brick road leads somewhere worth going.
- The original 1975 Broadway production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical
- The show is part of Broadway in Richmond’s 2024-25 season at the Altria Theater
- The 1978 film adaptation starred Diana Ross and Michael Jackson