It’s Sunday, and time for a Sunday Showstopper Snippet; but, it’s also Sunday, October 1 – the first day of BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. Every Sunday Showstopper Snippet this month will be dedicated to those of us who are survivors, or are in the midst of the fight for our lives.
We survivors look back, in amazement, at what we’ve come through. We hold our friends and family who are still struggling in our arms. We cry for those who, despite giving every fiber of their being to beat this beast, succumbed.
Today’s Sunday Showstopper Snippet is a song of inspiration. It’s a song of inner-strength, of believing, truly, that you can rise to any challenge; that, even when you think you’ve given everything you can give, you can summon up a little more to just keep going.
In 1975, “THE WIZ: THE SUPER SOUL MUSICAL “WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ” opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre. It almost closed on its opening night, but, thanks to an extra infusion of money from 20th Century Fox (its major investor), and agreements by all involved to take big cuts in their royalties until the show recouped its original production costs, the show was able to push an enormous TV commercial campaign, and, not only start selling out within 8 weeks of the push, but extend its run through January 1979. Stephanie Mills starred as Dorothy, and Dee Dee Bridgewater won the Tony Award and got the showstopper song as Glinda. The original Broadway production of “The Wiz” was honored with 7 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Choreography, Direction, and Costume Design.
In 1978, while the show was still running on Broadway, a movie version of “The Wiz” was released, starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Richard Pryor, Mabel King, and the incomparable, Lena Horne, as Glinda. This Sunday Showstopper Snippet is from that movie. Enjoy Lena Horne’s riveting performance, and be inspired.
Be compassionate to those who are struggling with things you can’t even imagine,
do something good for them, and don’t forget to do something good for yourself too!
