TV and film star Wayne Brady plays his final performance in the title role of Broadway's new The Wiz revival June 12 at the Marquis Theatre. Beginning June 13, Alan Mingo, Jr. will take over the part, reprising his performance from the majority of the production's pre-Broadway national tour.
“I’m thrilled to return to playing The Wiz, a role that I loved playing nightly on the national tour," said Mingo in an earlier statement. "My mother took me to see this musical when I was a child, and there aren’t many shows you can say that about.”
The production opened at Broadway's Marquis Theatre April 17 after beginning previews March 29, capping off a pre-Broadway tour that began last year. Brady joined the tour for its final two stops, in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and continued on for the Broadway bow.
Schele Williams (The Notebook) is at the helm. Choreography is by JaQuel Knight.
Newcomer Nichelle Lewis stars as Dorothy, joined in the cast by Deborah Cox as Glinda, Melody A. Betts as Aunt Em and Evillene, Kyle Ramar Freeman (A Strange Loop) as the Lion, Phillip Johnson Richardson (Sharper) as the Tinman, and Avery Wilson (The Voice) as the Scarecrow.
The Wiz, featuring a score by Charlie Smalls and a book by William F. Brown, premiered on Broadway in 1975, transforming L. Frank Baum's classic children's novel into an all-Black "super soul musical," as it was originally billed. The musical made the jump to the big screen in 1978 with a film adaptation starring Diana Ross, Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, Michael Jackson, and, reprising his Broadway performance as the Cowardly Lion, Ted Ross.
This new revival features additional material by 2023 Tony Award nominee Amber Ruffin, making The Wiz the comic's second theatrical outing following her work co-writing the Tony-nominated book to Broadway's Some Like It Hot with Matthew López.
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Joseph Joubert is providing music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements, with dance arrangements by Adam Blackstone and Terence Vaugn, vocal arrangements by Allen René Louis, music direction by Paul Byssainthe Jr., scenic design by Hannah Beachler, costume design by Sharen Davis, lighting design by Ryan J. O'Gara, video and projection design by Daniel Brodie, sound design by Jon Weston, wig design by Charles G. LaPointe, and makeup design by Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche. Casting is by Tara Rubin and Olivia Paige West. Ralph Stan Lee serves as production stage manager.
WATCH: Deborah Cox Sings 'Believe in Yourself' from The Wiz on Tamron Hall
Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland, Ambassador Theatre Group, Kandi Burruss, and Todd Tucker are producing.
Visit WizMusical.com.
