Drop-in Workshop for Families: Día de Muertos and Ofrendas

This beloved Motown musical version of L. Frank Baum’s classic fantasy book is an adaptation of the popular Tony Award–winning stage musical that originated on Broadway in 1975. Noted for its lively score and all-Black cast, director Sidney Lumet’s film features a stellar array of iconic entertainers including Diana Ross as Dorothy (reconceived for the film as a shy Harlem schoolteacher), Michael Jackson as Scarecrow, Lena Horne as Glinda, and Richard Pryor as The Wiz. Embraced by generations, The Wiz was nominated for its art direction, cinematography, costume design, and adapted score at the 51st Oscars.

Produced for Touchstone Pictures, a Disney offshoot offering slightly more mature fare, this smash-hit musical comedy stars Whoopi Goldberg as Reno lounge singer Deloris Wilson, who, on the run from the mob, joins a cloister of nuns in San Francisco. Unsure how best to apply her real-world skills, Deloris—now called Sister Mary Clarence—starts leading the choir, whose overnight success brings her unwanted attention. With an uplifting message of sisterhood, chosen family, and the importance of art in everyone’s life, Sister Act became one of the highest-grossing films of 1992 and was eventually adapted for the stage in 2006.

Inspired by actual events, this New York–set film refashions the eight-month newsboys’ strike of 1899 as a rollicking musical. Featuring early performances from teenaged Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) and David Moscow (Big), choreography designed in part by the film’s director, Kenny Ortega, and original tunes by Alan Menken—celebrated for his collaboration with lyricist Howard Ashman on animated Disney films—Newsies has been embraced in revival screenings and is now considered a cult classic.