A re-imaging of The Wizard of Oz, set against an urban background with an African American cast. Dorothy is a 24-year-old kindergarten teacher from Harlem, who along with her dog Toto are lost in a snowstorm on the night of Thanksgiving and end up in the Land of Oz, which looks like a strangly surreal verison of New York City. Dorothy learns the only way she can get home is to ease on down the road to see the Wiz. Along the way she meets a scarecrow made of garbage who wants a brain; a Tin Man, who is a turn-of-the-century mechanical carnie from Coney Island who wants a heart; and a lion who was banished from the jungle and must make his living as a statue in front of the main research branch of the New York Public Library.