The sun’s peeking out, and summer is around the corner. To celebrate the joy in the air that this bring, the Seattle Men’s Chorus is taking its latest show, Wicked Wiz of Oz — featuring a mashup of musical numbers from The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz, and Wicked — all across Washington from April 19 to May 16, with stops in Seattle, Everett, Bellingham, and Tacoma.
“It is absolute unbounded joy,” said Artistic Director Paul Caldwell. “It’s just a happy, happy, happy, feel-good spectacle.”
With the recent releases of the Wicked movies, the Oz universe was the perfect material for a spring show. “The Wizard of Oz is a perennial Gay favorite,” Caldwell said. “[Then] 20 years ago, we fell in love with Kristin Chenoweth and Adina Menzel singing [in Wicked] on Broadway, and now you have the movies with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.”
Rather than just featuring songs from the Broadway show or one movie, the chorus is embracing all of the songs and storylines, including mashing up certain connecting parts. For example, Scarecrow and Prince Fiyero’s songs are combined into a new musical number.
The Wizard of Oz in particular resonates with themes of queerness and acceptance. “It’s the story of someone who lands in a place where she doesn’t really fit in, and she’s struggling to figure that out, and along the way she assembles her chosen family,” Caldwell said.
In fact, in the late 1980s, the phrase “friend of Dorothy” was a hidden way for Queer people to identify each other.
“It’s a historic part of our story,” Caldwell said. “The release of the Wicked movie reminded us just how meaningful the story is, and it’s time to celebrate it all over again.”
The Seattle Men’s Chorus is coming up on nearly 50 years of performing. During the AIDS crisis in the late 1980s, Gay choruses began to appear in various cities. “It was a chance for Gay people to be together and create something beautiful,” Caldwell said. “Seattle was one of the very first.”
The chorus became a safe space for Queer people to form community, but also a way for audiences to learn more about them. “If you need to access the Gay community for any reason, the chorus is here for you,” Caldwell said. “But also if you just need to access happiness, that’s what the chorus is all about.”
Apart from the upcoming performances, the chorus also presents a huge holiday show, and is producing a sing-along event in June.
The Seattle show will be at Benaroya Hall on May 9. More information can be found at https://www.seattlechoruses.org/2025/12/01/wicked-wiz-of-oz/.
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