When "The Wiz" came out in the 1970s, the Broadway and film versions chanced retelling a classic American story, using black American voices.

Among others, "The Wiz" has served as a star vehicle for Diana Ross, who played Dorothy, and Michael Jackson, who had the role of the Scarecrow.

However, as American Cabaret Theatre's somewhat-less-earth-shattering experiment proves, a company doesn't need either an all-black cast or established stars to stage a successful rendition of "The Wiz."

ACT artistic director Bob Harbin, in his second annual summer youth production, presents "The Wiz" mainly with players in high school and college.

Because "The Wiz" popularized certain songs -- as did the 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz" -- the ACT company must perform those particularly well. Among them are the ensemble number "Ease on Down the Road" and Dorothy's final solo, "Home." Both came across beautifully at Friday night's opening show.

Jessica Murphy, returning to ACT after playing Gabriella in 2007's "High School Musical," made the character of Dorothy her own: a mix of confidence, nostalgia and vulnerability. Her voice was big enough to have blasted the sound system a couple of times Friday. It was also flexible enough to move easily among the challenging styles, from the waltzy "Soon As I Get Home" to the tender ballad, "Home."

Da'Keisha Bryant was a delight as Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West. Whether it was her initial smoke blowing from the balcony, her snooty attitude toward underlings, or her upbeat gospel number "No Bad News," the good news is that Bryant is the one you are absolutely going to love to hate.

Allan Washington makes solid contributions to the role of Scarecrow. His vocals are competent, but his moves -- individualistic with a nod to past interpreters -- were especially strong.

Unfortunately, a few things about the choreography seemed obtrusive, including Act I's quartet of men -- four big guys with big sticks -- awkwardly playing the Yellow Brick Road.

Stephen Hollenbeck's costumes were fun throughout the show, especially the over-the-top green-and-white outfits on the chorus at Evillene's place.

Harbin's direction has subtly preserved one of the more interesting things about the spoken text, and that's the infusion of various elements of contemporary urban culture. The director also made the text more family-friendly, by toning down drug allusions and other adults references from the original text of "The Wiz."