Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Watching the 1968 film adaptation of the Broadway musical THE WIZ, we can't help but feel that director Sidney Lumet and screenwriter Joel Schumacher deeply underserved their stars, craftspeople, and source material. It's impossible not to be captivated by the performances, especially as the movie is such a memorable intersection of the careers of Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, but the staging and writing continually let us down.

Discussed in this episode—the September 1975 Essence article by Sharon Stockard Martin: "The Tanning of Oz: Reflections on the Usurpation of a Myth," which is available to read at patreon.com/femfreq.

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