One of the most enduring American musicals of the past 50 years arrives in Folsom this November. Harris Center for the Arts presents The Wiz for four performances from November 12 through 15, 2026—two evening shows and two matinees, spanning Thursday through Sunday.
What The Wiz Is
The Wiz opened on Broadway in 1975 and became a landmark moment in American theater: a reimagining of The Wizard of Oz told through the lens of African American culture, with a score rooted in soul, gospel, R&B, and Motown. The show ran for four years on Broadway, winning seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, and has been revived repeatedly—most recently on Broadway in 2024—because the source material holds up and the songs don’t age.
The story follows the same arc as the original: Dorothy gets swept up in a storm, lands in the Land of Oz, and has to find her way home. But in The Wiz, Oz is reimagined as an urban American dreamscape, and the Yellow Brick Road leads through a world of scarecrows in fields, crows in the city, and a Great Wizard who turns out to be something other than he seems. The Wicked Witch of the West becomes Evillene, a character who became iconic in her own right.
What makes it stick: the music. “Ease on Down the Road” is one of those earworm ensemble numbers that people who haven’t seen the show still know. “Home,” Dorothy’s closing ballad, is one of the most covered songs in the musical theater repertoire. The Wiz is a show you can take to someone who doesn’t usually go to the theater and they will leave humming.
Show Schedule
- Thursday, November 12: 7:30 PM
- Friday, November 13: 7:30 PM
- Saturday, November 14: 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM
- Sunday, November 15: 2:00 PM
Runtime is approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes, including intermission.
What to Know Before You Go
Production notes: Harris Center’s listing notes that this production uses haze, smoke, and flashing lights. If anyone in your party is sensitive to those effects, plan accordingly—call the box office ahead of time to ask about seating positions that may reduce exposure.
Best seat strategy: Harris Center is a 2,400-seat venue. The Wiz is a big production with a lot of stage movement and ensemble choreography, so orchestra seats in the first half of the house give the best sight lines to the full stage picture. Balcony seats work well for the bigger ensemble numbers but you’ll lose some detail on the faces during quieter dramatic moments.
Parking: Harris Center has free surface parking on site at Folsom Lake College. Arrive 20 to 30 minutes before the show to find a spot without stress, particularly for the Saturday evening show which tends to draw the largest crowds.
The Details
- Venue: Harris Center for the Arts, 10 College Parkway, Folsom, CA 95630
- Dates: November 12–15, 2026
- Showtimes: Thu/Fri/Sat evenings at 7:30 PM; Sat/Sun matinees at 2:00 PM
- Runtime: Approximately 2 hours 20 minutes with intermission
- Tickets: Available at harriscenter.net or by calling 916-608-6888
- Box office email: TicketOffice@harriscenter.net
- Parking: Free on-site at Folsom Lake College
- Note: Production uses haze, smoke, and flashing lights
Bottom Line
If you haven’t seen The Wiz live, this is a reasonable place to fix that. Harris Center is one of the Sacramento region’s better mid-size venues for touring musicals—the sightlines are good, parking is free, and the acoustics suit a show like this. The Wiz runs just four performances, so it’s not the kind of production you can keep meaning to catch and get to eventually. Saturday afternoon on November 14 is the most family-friendly option; the Thursday and Friday evenings skew more adult.
For more shows at Harris Center this fall, see ELF The Musical at Harris Center opening November 4, or Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s Wild and Swingin’ Holiday Party on November 20. For theater elsewhere in the region, Annie at Woodland Opera House runs through the same stretch of November.
