“Purlie” and “The Wiz” — along with “Dreamgirls,” which landed just past the decade divider in 1981 — have been well attended since the 1970s. “The Wiz” was made into a film that many Black people regard as iconic, and a revival is playing on Broadway now. It ran for over two years, won the Tony for best musical and best actress (Virginia Capers) and Theatre World awards for three other leads. Musical theater historians tend to blow by it with a couple of respectful sentences. It’s had a regional revival or three, but compared with “Purlie,” “The Wiz” and “Dreamgirls,” it is a dead property.

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Persons: Lorraine Hansberry’s, Blacker, Purlie, ”, —, “ Purlie ”, “, Hansberry’s, Robert Nemiroff, Charlotte Zaltzberg, Judd Woldin, Robert Brittan, Tony, Virginia Capers, It’s, “ Purlie Organizations: Sun, Broadway, Theatre