fan base Beyoncé

[R.E.M.]

6 hours ago, Starshine said:

All I thought about watching Wicked were how many times Bey has referenced The Wiz. From that clip of her singing at 7 years old, Homecoming's intro, mysteriously teasing emerald on her website years, to Rennie representing the tinman with silver, bringing Diana Ross on a stage design inspired by the film she starred in, and her ending the tour in Kansas City. Ou my deluIu self was getting a headache. 

from Reddit: 

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  Spoiler

  • Dreams: When Bey dropped Renaissance she said, "Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world." Dorothy adventures through the dreamland of Oz, on a pursuit to return home. The RWT itself includes multiple images of Beyoncé in a resting state (projected visuals, bed scenery, etc). She even includes that brief riff of "Sweet Dreams" right in the middle of "Alien Superstar," which is just after she appears all cozy in an upright bed.

  • Staging and the Emerald City: The Wiz's Emerald City is identical to the RWT staging: a big circle that people party and dance around. As a product of the 70s, its vibes are disco dance party, much like inspirations behind Renaissance. Unlike the 1939 Wizard of Oz which features giant doors, the entrance to Emerald City in The Wiz is a circular vault, much like the backdrop of the RWT stage that morphs and opens and closes throughout the show. Also, Bey's projection screens showing the live feed of the concert are circular as well.

  • Live Feeds: In Emerald City, there are little walking cameras that film the locals as they dance and pose, just like the cameras do throughout RWT. There's even a moment where RED is the color in Emerald City (iykyk) and it looks quite similar to Bey's performance of AHAP.

  • A "Friend of Dorothy": it's well-known that LGBTQ+ influences are the backbone to the Renaissance album and tour: Uncle Johnny, the ballroom scene, Kevin JZ Prodigy, Kevin Aviance, Ts Madison, Moi Renée, Big Freedia, etc. For many decades, being a "friend of Dorothy" has been an indirect way of sharing one's sexuality, most commonly for gay men. Diana Ross, Judy Garland, and the character of Dorothy Gale have all fulfilled the role of icon for the queer community.

  • Trumpets: The horns that herald The Wiz's announcements are the same horns that introduced Bey at Coachella, so if you thought I've been pushing it with this analysis, know the queen has roots with this musical.

  • Bey and the Wizard: Both are entertainers who have learned how to dazzle large populations through smoke and mirrors, doing so with such great success that many people start to think they are superhuman. RWT includes a myriad of images of Bey as a robot, there's even one green robot image of her that looks a lot like Richard Pryor's Wizard. A lot of ways to interpret this; personally I see it as her way of acknowledging her nonstop work ethic can make her feel like she operates like a machine, but she still wants to remind us that, like the wizard, she's merely a human with lots of tricks up her sleeve.

  • Colors: In Emerald City, the wizard dictates the color of the moment; starting with green, then red, and finally gold. All three colors have been heavily featured in the Renaissance tour's costuming, but no color has taken precedent over silver and chrome. Now everyone knows about Dorothy's ruby red slippers, but in the original novel (and in The Wiz) Dorothy's slippers are silver! No matter the color, what have those slippers always symbolized?

  • Home: In her birthday wish, Beyoncé asked for her attendees during Virgo season to wear silver. She said, "We'll surround ourselves in a shimmering human disco ball each night, everybody mirroring each other's joy." Not only does this feel like she's recreating the disco party of Emerald City, but her way of creating "a safe place, a place without judgment, a place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking, a place to scream, release, feel freedom" (quote comes from the album's inscription). She's creating for us a home, the home we all deserve: to be free, to be ourselves, to share love and joy with one another. This especially rings loud and true for POC, LGBTQ+ folks, and any population to endure systemic oppression.

  • Home (cont'd): At its core, The Wiz is the story of a journey, where in the end we're left to understand that what we seek out to gain, we've always possessed within. Sound familiar? "We go round in circles round in circles searching for love. We go up and down, lost and found, searching for love. Looking for something that lives inside me." Scarecrow always had a brain, Tin Man always had a heart, Lion always had courage, and Dorothy, like us all, always had access to home. As Glinda says, She "always had the power […but] she had to learn it for herself." It's a journey for us all, and I imagine each of us in the Beyhive are at different points in our individual journey, but realizing that our sense of love and home can always be found within the depths of our own souls is my major takeaway in the aftermath of this life changing album and tour.