The Whiz: Cascadia, hitting Tacoma and the Pantages Theater Saturday, is said to celebrate "urban subcultures by showcasing an array of different dance, performance, and musical styles from hip-hop to funk, postmodern to drag and contemporary to psychedelic." With choreography by Nicholas Leichter and a score by Monstah Black, we're told the production is a refreshed take on both the classic film The Wizard of Oz and the 1978 Quincy Jones-powered The Wiz. All of this sounds awesome, of course, and more importantly it's probably enough to get a portion of our staff larger than the pale, theater types to sit through an entire "modern dance musical." The culture will be good for us.

[Pantages Theater, 7:30 p.m., $29-$59, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894]