Overalls embroidered with cast signatures from The Wiz: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A pair of overalls made from an ivory canvas and colorfully embroidered with signatures of cast and crew members of the original Broadway production of The Wiz. The bib overalls have two crossed straps at the top, ties at the waist, and gathered, elastic bottom cuffs. At top center, embroidered in black with purple and green accents, is the logo for The Wiz: a woman in profile, stepping forward while her hair swirls out behind her. The rest of the overalls have been covered, front and back, top to bottom, with embroidered signatures of cast and crew members. The signatures are in a variety of bright colors (red, pink, yellow, purple, blue, green, brown, and black) and many are accompanied by small, embroidered drawings. At top front, in pink, is “Love always 1974” accompanied by pink gems. Some of the signatures on the front include: Ralph Wilcox (proper left, in red), “Tiger Haynes 10/17/74” (center, in dark green), “Love, Bill Brown” (top proper right, in brown, with a pink smiling face), and “Lettie ‘Bug’” (center, in light green, with an owl). On the back, some of the signatures are: George Faison (center, in light green, with ruby slippers), Andre [De Shields] (proper left leg, in black with purple, green, and blue lightning bolts), Al Costa (proper left leg, in red, with scissors), Mabel King (proper left leg, in purple, with an eye), and DeeDee Bridgewater (proper right leg, in pink, with a heart).

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1975-1979
• Created by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Tiger Haynes, American, 1914 - 1994
• Subject of: Clarice Taylor, American, 1917 - 2011
• Subject of: Mabel King, American, 1932 - 1999
• Subject of: André De Shields, American, born 1946
• Subject of: Tasha Thomas, American, 1950 - 1984
• Subject of: Dee Dee Bridgewater, American, born 1950
• Subject of: Stephanie Mills, American, born 1957
• Type: overalls (main garments)
• Medium: cloth and thread with plastic and glass
• Dimensions: H x W: 53 3/8 × 22 5/16 in. (135.5 × 56.6 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Musical Theatre
• Topic: Television
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2013.188.10
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of William and James Thomas and family in memory of Clarice Taylor
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.