Director Schele Williams delivered an inspirational speech to the company on the first day of rehearsal at the Marquis Theatre, emphasizing the significance of their roles in carrying forward the legacy of “The Wiz.” Williams remarked, “We are part of something so special. We get to carry the torch, and that is a privilege. Every day you go into your dressing rooms and every day they call half hour is a gift. Know that nothing is promised to us, but this moment.”

The Wiz has already made waves across America with a pre-Broadway tour that saw 13 sold-out cities and 167 performances, captivating over 390,000 fans nationwide. This groundbreaking twist on “The Wizard of Oz” brings a contemporary flair to the timeless story, blending soul, gospel, rock, and 70s funk in its iconic score and delivering a stirring tale of self-discovery through Dorothy’s journey.

The Broadway cast boasts an extraordinary lineup featuring Nichelle Lewis as ‘Dorothy,’ Wayne Brady as ‘The Wiz,’ Deborah Cox as ‘Glinda,’ Melody A. Betts as ‘Aunt Em’ and ‘Evillene,’ Kyle Ramar Freeman as ‘Lion,’ Phillip Johnson Richardson as ‘Tinman,’ Avery Wilson as ‘Scarecrow,’ and a talented ensemble that includes Lauryn Adams, Maya Bowles, Shayla Alayre Caldwell, Jay Copeland, Allyson Kaye Daniel, Judith Franklin, Michael Samarie George, Collin Heyward, Amber Jackson, Olivia Jackson, Christina Jones, Polanco Jones, Kolby Kindle, Mariah Lyttle, Kareem Marsh, Alan Mingo, Jr., Anthony Murphy, Dustin Praylow, Cristina Rae, Matthew Sims Jr, Avilon Trust Tate, Keenan D. Washington, and Timothy Wilson.

With a book by William F. Brown and a Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls (and others), director Schele Williams (The Notebook, revival of Disney’s Aida), award-winning choreographer JaQuel Knight (Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” Black is King), additional material by Tony-nominated and Emmy-nominated writer and TV host Amber Ruffin (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Late Night With Seth Meyers”), Joseph Joubert (music supervision, orchestrations, & music arrangements), Allen René Louis (vocal arrangements, music arrangements), and Emmy Award^®-winning music director and Grammy Award^®-winning writer, Adam Blackstone (Dance Music Arranger), and Paul Byssainthe Jr. (Music Director), are conjuring up an Oz unlike anything ever seen before.

The design team features award-winning talents including scenic design by Academy Award-winning Hannah Beachler (Black Panther, Beyoncé’s Black is King and Lemonade), costume design by Emmy Award-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated Sharen Davis (Ray, Dreamgirls), lighting design by Barrymore Award-winning Ryan J. O’Gara (Thoughts of a Colored Man), sound design by Jon Weston (Parade), video and projection design by Daniel Brodie (Motown the Musical), wig design by Charles LaPointe (MJ the Musical) and make-up design by Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche (The Piano Lesson)

The Wiz revival is set to dazzle audiences with its dynamic fusion of ballet, jazz, and modern pop, breathing new life into the classic tale of adventure and self-discovery. Stay tuned for more updates as the production gears up for its much-anticipated premiere at the Marquis Theatre.

The post Go Inside Rehearsal: <em>The Wiz</em> Revival Releases A Snippet Before First Preview; Performances Begin March 29th appeared first on Broadway Black.

This landmark musical based on Alice Walker’s novel of the same name follows the the inspirational Celie, as she journeys from childhood through joy and despair, anguish and hope to discover the power of love and life. With a fresh, joyous score of jazz, ragtime, gospel and blues, this European premiere is directed by John Doyle, and adapted for the stage by Pulitzer Prize and Tony award winner Marsha Norman, with music and lyrics by Grammy award-winners Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. Join our evening conversation about the musical featuring Russell with producer Scott Sanders, and cast members Cynthia Erivo (Celie) and Isaiah Johnson (Mister).

in from sunny LA to grey snow dusting of NYC-couldn’t be happier cuz I’m gonna be in convo w @CynthiaEriVo & #ColorPurple @SchomburgCenter

— MichaelaAngela Davis (@MichaelaAngelaD) February 8, 2016

STREAM OF THE DAY:#TheaterTalks with @BwayColorPurple. Watch #LIVE at 7 PM ET ➝ https://t.co/ut1iFVzXxo pic.twitter.com/HF6CeMdDiT

— Livestream (@Livestream) February 8, 2016

And we can’t wait! #TheaterTalks https://t.co/TKDK2G31SA @BwayColorPurple https://t.co/DAHgk6S9eV

— SchomburgCenter (@SchomburgCenter) February 8, 2016

The post Theater Talks: The Color Purple Presented By Schomburg Center appeared first on Broadway Black.

Abasiama came to America with high hopes—for her arranged marriage and for her future—intent on earning a degree and returning to Nigeria. But when her husband is seduced by America, she must choose between the Nigerian and the American dream.

Still, Broadway Black got the chance to sit down with Udofia and discuss why she took a break from singing, how she defines her work, and what exactly is “Nigeria-dar.”

Broadway Black (BB): You’re just like…a master of everything!
Mfoniso Udofia (MU):  Oh, my mother is like ‘Be careful Mfoniso, don’t become a jack of all trades and master of none!’  Because I did, I liked to dabble!

BB:  What’s the last incredible show you saw?
MU: I just saw The Color Purple and Cynthia Erivo… it’s like my Nigeria-dar went off! She was so good, like incandescent. From this little body came this gorgeous, gorgeous voice.  The Color Purple itself, by Alice Walker, the book tore me up. The movie destroyed me. Then watching it… I think I forgot how deep the story was and the type of healing that story demands.  Alice Walker is a beast.  Reading her canon is good for the Black body.

BB: So did seeing Color Purple inspire you at all [to want to return to acting/singing]?
MU: For a hot HOT second!  But I don’t sing like that, and that was a big thing when I was auditioning.  I think people want me to sound a very particular way, because of what I look like.  So it’s gonna demand a breaking of our gaze which sometimes is easy and sometimes is not.

BB: There’s been a lot of talk about the white gaze over the different productions.  What would you say to someone who is trying to work under what we might veil as a “white gaze?”
MU: Having the uncomfortable conversations, in the beginning, is important and right at the start dismantling privilege.  I do think that is something that Playwrights Realm was wonderful working with me going, ‘Listen, the play I’m writing right now, the gaze from which I’m writing it is not the gaze that most western theatergoers might understand and I am not interested in changing the internal heartbeat that way’ and I was actually listened to.  But, you can’t make an assumption that you are understood. I push from the beginning so that in the middle when I’m pushing it can’t be like ‘Oh, I didn’t know this might be coming one day.’ I’m pretty upfront.

BB: What is unique to you and your storytelling?
MU: I make sound. It’s poetry, really. I may break the form of what feels like spoken word. My father was giving me narratives to read when I was young and I think I started thinking in poetry and it’s leaked into my writing. I love it because it confounds itself.  The line will play on six different levels.   The way poetry and prose fuse…

BB: If you had to give it a name…?
MU: If I had to give it a name… [You can hear her struggling to create the vocabulary for her art] You’re asking me to create on the spot, you’re watching the creative mist [she laughs]…. It is “true north.” My poetry is the container in Sojourners and is true north in Run Boy Run.

BB: What do you want your audience to take away from Sojourners?
MU: I want them to have critical sight into what the African-Nigerian body actually is. How certain immigrants might have come here to build a life.  Especially since now, we’re having really interesting conversations on immigrants and there’s a particular sense of phobia in certain pockets, so to really understand what it’s like. I want audiences to understand that the WAY immigrants come into this country, they’re varied, there might not even be a desire to stay, and that building within the Amerian dream is a particular crisis.  I hope this play complicates the idea of the American Dream and makes us understand that when immigrants are coming in they’re coming in with their own dreams and will become a fuel for the American Dream.
Also, I do hope people start to grapple with the African body vis-à-vis the African American body and we start to build language and see where connections fail and where connections can be made between those two communities.

Sojourners is currently playing at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater through Feb. 13.  For tickets, visit TicketCentral.com.  For more on what Mfoniso is up to, check out her website mfonisoudofia.com.

On the set of #Sojourners today with playwright @mfudofia! Tonight the first preview for her stellar new play happens at @playwrightsrealm! This off-Broadway play is a dynamic debut for a playwright who is bound to have many more produced! Can’t wait to share all of what we talked about today. Look for it on BroadwayBlack.com! #BroadwayBlack

A photo posted by Broadway Black (@broadwayblack) on Jan 21, 2016 at 11:23am PST

The post Sing Girl Sing: One on One with Sojourners Playwright Mfoniso Udofia appeared first on Broadway Black.

Theater Talks: The Royale Presented by Schomburg Center

Moderator: Andrew Shade, Founder & Editorial Director of Broadway Black

Cast: McKinley Belcher III, Khris Davis, Clarke Peters

The Schomburg Center is proud to present an evening with cast members McKinley Belcher III, Khris Davis, and Clarke Peters from Lincoln Center Theater’s upcoming play, The Royale. Written by Marco Ramirez and directed by Rachel Chavkin, the play is inspired by the real-life experiences of Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight world champion.

Set in 1905, The Royale follows Jay “The Sport” Jackson as he faces his opponents – and confronts his demons – and exposes the troublesome events in his life that have propelled him into the ring with a burning desire to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

@SchomburgLive #TheaterTalks

Thank you to the Schomburg Center and @broadwayblack for a great evening with cast members from THE ROYALE. Previews begin Feb. 11. LCT.org #TheRoyaleLCT #schomburgcenter

A photo posted by Lincoln Center Theater (@lctheater) on Jan 27, 2016 at 6:55pm PST

WHEN: Wednesday, January 27, 2016 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM (EST)

WHERE: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture – 515 Malcolm X Boulevard New York, NY 10037

REGISTER FOR FREE TICKETS HERE

The post Theater Talks: The Royale Presented by Schomburg Center appeared first on Broadway Black.

With more than 40 film and television projects under her belt, and having shared the screen with the likes of Forest Whitaker, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Robert Duvall, Salma Hayek, and Jenna Elfman, this Texas native and Yale School of Drama grad admits that theatre is her first love – embracing and reveling in the energy that’s shared with a live audience.

“It’s a sacred triangle between you, your fellow colleagues onstage, and the audience. There’s a synergy there that doesn’t exist with a camera,” Scott says.

Nottage’s Sweat is a timely and relevant piece that delves into the impact of corporate buyouts, outsourcing, and the disappearance of manufacturing jobs on human capital. Nottage set the play in a small town to “explore America’s industrial decline at the turn of the millennium by examining the inhabitants of one Pennsylvania town who still struggle to reclaim what’s lost, find redemption and redefine themselves in a new century.” Sweat premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in August and is now headed to the Arena Stage’s Kreeger Theater in Washington, DC, where it opens on January 15 and runs through February 21.

Scott is cast in the role of “Cynthia” one of two friends for life who work at a local factory in Reading, Pa. Tracey (Johanna Day) is white; and Cynthia is black. Their friendship is tested when Cynthia is promoted to management, causing a painful rift with Tracey, who had also applied. Tracey attributes Cynthia’s selection to tokenism.

In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with Broadway Black, Scott discussed her latest role, her thoughts on comparisons of Nottage and Wilson, and other topics.

What is it about the role of Cynthia that drew you to it?

I know Lynn’s work and she’s a beast, she’s amazing, and opens windows into people’s souls, her character’s souls that are just astonishing and lovely. I had not even read the play when I said “yes.” I knew it was going to be beautiful. I knew it was Lynn, and I went, “I’m in. Can I read it?” They said, “We only have the first act. We only have the first act.” I said, “Let me read it.” I was like, “Okay, if you think…” they’re like, “Yeah, we think.” Then, about a month before we started, I got to read the whole play, and it blew my mind.

Reviewers have sometimes compared Nottage to August Wilson, particularly as it relates to dialogue. Do you see any similarities between the two, having worked with both of them?

I think that the joy in the language is absolutely there. That joy, that familiarity, that humanity, is absolutely comparable and the same, and glorious. It’s glorious, the way she makes these people that are completely familiar. You know who they are. You know these people, you know their situation, and you know their feeling. She does not write things that are easy. They’re beautiful mountains, they are beautiful mountains that you have to climb. You can’t see it, when they call places you can’t see the top. Somehow, you have to take it one scene at a time, one moment at a time. I feel that way about Sweat. You take it one moment at a time, you take it one scene at a time, you keep breathing, and you keep going forward in the experience of these characters in the play.

That was the way it was with August. Very, very keen ear for his own work. That’s the thing they have in common, the keen ear and also the joy. She has a great joy in the room. August would lean back and laugh and enjoy it. She enjoys hearing your experience of what she’s written. She enjoys you turning on the lights in this rooms that she’s furnished. It’s beautiful; it’s really quite beautiful.

“Cynthia” faces some very real issues when she gets the promotion – allegations of tokenism. Some of us have felt that at some point in life. As an actress who’s played very diverse roles, have you ever encountered anything like that and what was your response? Did your response affect how you handled that in the role?

Doing the play, telling this story is so familiar for so many of us. It’s so familiar. I had so many women walk up to me and say, “Girl, girl let me tell you. Girl.” It’s having that experience of suffering and questioning the value of your own ambition.

It’s hard because ambition is hard enough; self-esteem is hard enough. Then, to become a tool, to have it all, to be used in the way that she gets used, is hard. It’s hard to tell the story because it’s familiar. I really think that if you have any ambition at all, if you have any sense of self-esteem or achievement as an African-American woman in America, you can understand what Cynthia goes through. It’s tough to lean into what it is that she goes through with her friends. It’s not simple, it’s class, it’s race; it’s all of that. Friendship on top of that, and camaraderie, and 20 years of experience, 30 years of experience, it’s tough. It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s close.

The play opens at Arena Stage DC on January 15. You’ve played there before in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, what will it be like to go back?

Every audience is different, but to do this play in Washington DC, so close to the area that this is talking about, so close. There will be exponentially more people who not only have had an experience like it, but will know exactly what we’re talking about. On top of that, possibly people in the audience who will have a possible way to affect the situation, policy wise, that’s very gratifying. I look forward to, possibly, the congressmen and senators, and people from the various departments of the U.S. Government who could come and see this play and understand, maybe, on a more fundamental level, what’s happening. I think that Lynn has written a play that is as illuminating to the deindustrialization of America and this moment in history that we’re at, as Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman was to that moment in American history – for the American working man.

For someone with such an impressive and enviable body of work, how have you been able to maintain longevity in a profession where people often get discouraged and give up, or they just can’t get the roles?

There came a moment when my dad died. It got real, as they say. I realized, life is finite, and daylight is burning. I was living in Los Angeles and when you live in Los Angeles, you do television and film, you tend to turn down a lot of theater to wait around for film work and television work. When my dad died I had just done a play and I realized how much I missed doing theater. I was doing theater over the years, but not as much as I could have been doing. I wasn’t doing everything that I was offered. I had this moment where I realized, “Wow, I need to follow my bliss. I need to do that. I need to trust that everything’s going to come out okay. I need to go ahead and do what’s offered to me because it’s coming to me for a reason.” I just decided, I’m not going to turn down nothing but my hat.

I’m Buddhist. My practice is so much about really attracting things and not chasing after my fortune. I’m not trying to chase after my fortune anymore. I’m really trusting that my fortune is coming to me. Ever since I’ve really tried to stand in that truth, it’s been great

What is it that inspires you?

My colleagues inspire me endlessly, their courage, their bravery. We have three new cast members and just the opportunity to rediscover the play with new people, that’s inspiring, as well as the experience of discovering it the first time with the people who originated their roles. I have a profound belief that the first cast leaves DNA in the play, there’s no getting around that.

When you do world premieres, you’re crafting an experience. You’re crafting a play. You’re crafting this thing, telling this story. You have these actors telling this story, this way. You’ve got a director working on it and on the way we tell that story, but no matter who the director is, and the playwright, and the words that the playwright has brought to the table, and we tell that story, there’s no getting around the fact that the first cast puts a stamp on it.

For tickets to see Scott in Sweat at the Arena Stage’s Kreeger Theater in Washington, DC, visit here.

The post Exclusive: Kimberly Scott Talks Sweat, Nottage Vs. Wilson, & What Inspires Her appeared first on Broadway Black.

If you’re like me and haven’t been able to snag a ticket, you’re in luck. Hamilton is coming to the small screen. Wait. Pause. No, not the full musical! But rather, the incredible story of its journey to the Richard Rodgers Theater and its blockbuster status as the hottest show on Broadway.

PBS will air Hamilton’s America as part of its “Great Performances” series this fall. Filmed by the Oscar nominated film company, RadicalMedia, the documentary chronicles the two years leading up to its Broadway open with interviews, cast trips to Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York, and the home of Alexander Hamilton, and of course footage of the production.

“Great Performances” has been making concerts, shows, and performances accessible through public programming for many years. In fact, this is the second time Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work has been featured on the show. In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams aired in 2009, shedding light on Miranda’s other hit, In the Heights.

This intimate look behind the scenes promises to bring fresh insight! I think we’ll be “Satisfied”..At least until we hear of a full length Original Broadway Cast filmed performance in the works. *crosses fingers*

Hamilton is the highly acclaimed, hip hop-infused story about America’s first treasurer, Alexander Hamilton. It has topped rap charts. It has beat out the almighty Lion King as top grossing musical TWICE. It’s members have appeared on a cypher on BET. And it has welcomed thousands of public school students into the theater to give the gift of the arts. Based on the biography of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Miranda has penned what has come to be one of the most influential and talked about shows of our generation. 

The post Hamilton Joins PBS’s Great Performances Series appeared first on Broadway Black.

The convention – theatre’s answer to comic con – was conceived by Melissa Anelli, Stephanie Dornheim and Anthony Rapp, and is produced in partnership with Playbill. Rapp, an original performer in Rent, said of the first-ever event:

“I signed on to help create this event not only because it is the first convention for theatre fans, and not only because it is a singular opportunity to spend quality time with those who love Broadway most, but because this is the convention that this community deserves.”

A look at Broadway behind the scenes and its creative teams will be covered from taking a show from page to stage to adapting stage plays for the screen, from creating a cast recording to costumer tips and tricks. Attendees also will have the opportunity to learn why favorite shows close and how to launch a nonprofit theatre company.

The inaugural convention will feature Hamilton cast members Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr., Phillipa Soo, René Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs and Arianna DeBose; Billy Porter (Kinky Boots); James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin); Tamika Lawrence (If/Then); Michael McElroy (Rent); Marisha Wallace (Something Rotten!).

Ultimately, the event – which will feature more than 100 happenings – is designed to give the attendee the most memorable experience possible. Unlike other conventions, autographs and photo opportunities will be free. “We are creating content that will inspire, excite and just plain entertain,” Rapp said. The schedule, times and guests will be finalized the closer to the event.

“Conceived and created by people who live and love theatre,” BroadwayCon will be Jan. 22-24, at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel. The initial ticket block offered Oct. 17 sold out in hours, according to the event website. The third and final batch of tickets is on sale now.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in their work to help people who have been affected by HIV/AIDS.

We’ll be there! Make sure to get your tickets and check out the panel on diversity moderated by the Editorial Director and Founder of Broadway Black, Andrew Shade. Details below

The post First-Ever BroadwayCon Gives Theatre Fans Ultimate Experience appeared first on Broadway Black.

The post Jennifer Hudson Talks The Color Purple & Her Broadway Journey appeared first on Broadway Black.

“In my original idea… [Simba] doesn’t go back at all. That never happened,” she said of Simba returning from his adventures in the jungle to become king. Instead, “He goes to the desert. And in the desert, he comes out of the jungle… And he sees Vegas.”

She wanted to introduce a new villain named Papa Croc who struck a deal with Scar, the villainous lion, to buy all the water in the land. Eliminating the water creates a desert oasis: Las Vegas (complete with plays on animals and humans, like Papa Croc’s Pussycat Lounge).

“And here comes Simba the wild beast from the jungle, and he falls for Papa Croc because he doesn’t have a father,” Taymor said. Simba’s father, Mufasa, dies both in the movie and at the end of the first act of her musical.

But Papa Croc then puts Simba in the Coliseum and forces him to fight against animals from other lands in a brutal animal gladiator show.

Thankfully, this scenario was not approved. Instead, Simba misses the Vegas stage and saves Pride Rock. Taymor agrees staying with the movie’s ending was the right call. However, she did hint Vegas might still happen. But for now, Taymor is being inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame for her direction of The Lion King on Broadway, which is still the highest grossing entertainment production.

The post Simba Almost Ended Up in Vegas! The Lion King’s Alternate Ending appeared first on Broadway Black.

The post NBC Takes Us Behind The Yellow Brick Road With The Making of The Wiz Live! appeared first on Broadway Black.