Donald Webber Archives - Broadway Black

The Wiz Live! Full Ensemble Cast is Announced

Broadway Black — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 01:15:46 +0000

As the date looms ever closer, we are shining our ruby red slippers and making sure our oilcans are topped off in preparation of NBC’s The Wiz Live! to be broadcast on December 3. While we previously reported on the leads for this epic production, we now have a full cast list! Joining Ne-Yo as the “Tinman,” Elijah Kelley (Lee Daniels’ “The Butler”) as the “Scarecrow,” Shanice Williams as “Dorothy” and David Alan Grier as “The Cowardly Lion” and more is the ensemble, in alphabetical order: Chris Borrero, Olutayo Bosede, James Brown III, Ta’rea Campbell, Jessica Castro, Kacie Garland, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Frankie Gordils, Khadija Griffith, Tre Holloway, Antonio Hudnell, Carlos Irizarry, Marcus Paul James, Frederic Jean, Capathia Jenkins, Mykal Kilgore, Tamika Lawrence, India R. McGee, Antonio Moore, Maurice Murphy, Danielle Polanco, Malaiyka Reid, Eric Sanchez, Chris Silcox, Sherisse Springer, Ahmahd Thomas, Raphael Thomas, Elon Van Buckley, Alex Wade, Donald Webber, DaShaun Wesley, Xavier Wilcher, and NaTasha Williams.

True to their word of incorporating amazing acrobatic feats, several of the ensemble cast have experience as Cirque du Soleil performers. We can’t wait to see how choreographer Fatima Robinson has these amazing performers soaring.

Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah & Grammy Award winner Mary J. Blige are also in the cast of The Wiz Live. Latifah will play “The Wiz”, a role originated on stage by the incomparable Andre De Shields (Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Full Monty). Blige will portray the role of “Evillene”, the horrible wicked witch known for the upbeat “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News.” In addition to Stephanie Mills as “Aunt Em,” Uzo Aduba as Glinda The Good Witch, and Amber Riley as Addaperle, also previously announced.

Tony Award winner Kenny Leon will direct & Fatima Robinson will choreograph, as previously announced. The show will also head to Broadway in 2016 with Leon directing. The Wiz for NBC will partner with Cirque du Soleil to bring the live and Broadway productions to life. William F. Brown wrote the original book of the show. This time around, Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein will add new material to the book.

The post The Wiz Live! Full Ensemble Cast is Announced appeared first on Broadway Black.

A Look Inside: Whorl Inside A Loop At Second Stage Theatre

Broadway Black — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 17:27:20 +0000

Broadway Black is here to provide you a look inside the highly anticipated world premiere of Whorl Inside a Loop. The production, which stars Sherie Rene Scott, is now in performances at Second Stage Theatre (Tony Kiser Theatre in Midtown 43rd Street and 8th Avenue) and officially opens on Thursday, August 27. In addition to Scott, the cast features Derrick Baskin (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Nicholas Christopher (Motown), Chris Myers (Soho Rep.’s An Octoroon), Ryan Quinn (King Lear), Daniel J. Watts (In the Heights), and Donald Webber Jr. (Motown). Check out photos below!

Photos by Joan Marcus.

Ryan Quinn, Nicholas Christopher, Derrick Baskin, Donald Webber Jr., Daniel J. Watts, Sherie Rene Scott

Ryan Quinn, Nicholas Christopher, Donald Webber Jr.,Chris Myers, Derrick Baskin

Daniel J. Watts and Chris Myers

Daniel J. Watts, Derrick Baskin, and Ryan Quinn.

Donald Webber Jr., Chris Myers, Derrick Baskin, Daniel J. Watts, Nicholas Christopher, and Ryan Quinn.

Whorl Inside a Loop is a new play by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott and co-directed by Michael Mayer and Scanlan. After Scott and Scanlan went to Woodbourne Correctional Facility in New York to lead a one-day workshop on personal narratives, some of the inmates asked if they would come back and transform these monologues into a show. That’s exactly what they did. The play offers credit for additional material and a percentage of the profits to five of the men from the prison. Their monologues were woven into the script, and their names and nicknames were assigned to many of the characters.

A well-regarded actress agrees to teach six inmates how to tell their stories behind the bars of a men’s maximum security prison. Sharing intimate and sometimes hilarious details of their former lives, this unlikely group forms a bond — even as the actress’ life outside spins out of control. And when what happens in prison doesn’t stay there, no one is sure who to trust. From the team that brought you Everyday Rapture, this new play features Sherie Rene Scott and six men playing two dozen characters in a constant shifting of scenes, ages, genders and races. Whorl Inside a Loop explores the fine line between convicted felons and the criminal inside each of us, the viability of forgiveness and the unreliability of redemption.

Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased here.

Dont have your tckts to #WhorlInsideALoop yet? @donaldwebber & @DWattsWords tell you how! @2STNYC #WeAreBroadwayBlack pic.twitter.com/386JXQbL6g

— Broadway Black (@BroadwayBlack) August 6, 2015

The post A Look Inside: Whorl Inside A Loop At Second Stage Theatre appeared first on Broadway Black.

Previews Begin For Whorl Inside A Loop At 2econd Stage

Broadway Black — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 15:01:33 +0000

When it comes to prison dramas, the television landscape has long been littered with them, from “Hogan Heroes” in the 60’s to the Emmy-winning and critically acclaimed current Netflix series “Orange is the New Black.” Now, Broadway veteran and Tony nominee Sheri Rene Scott is bringing a prison drama to the stage and the anticipation for the show is so high that the New York Times (July 29, 2015) recently highlighted it.

Whorl Inside a Loop is an Off Broadway production that tells the story of an actress who volunteers at a maximum security prison and agrees to teach six inmates how to tell their stories. Sharing intimate and sometimes hilarious details of their former lives, this unlikely group forms a bond – even as the actress’ life spins out of control. And when what happens in prison doesn’t stay there, no one is sure who to trust.

(l-r top row: Sherie Renee Scott, Derrick Baskin, Nicholas Christopher bottom row: Chris Myers, Ryan Quinn, Daniel J. Watts, Donald Webber, Jr.

The play, co-authored by Scott and writer Dick Scanlan, features Scott and six men playing two dozen characters in a constant shifting of scenes, ages, genders, and races. Other cast members include Derrick Baskin, who received a 2005 Drama Desk award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance for his role as “Mitch Mahoney” in the Off-Broadway production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; Nicholas Christopher, who recently appeared as “Smokey Robinson” in Broadway’s blockbuster hit Motown: The Musical’s 1st National tour; Obie Award winner Chris Myers, who appeared in Soho Rep’s An Octoroon; Ryan Quinn, who’s appeared in several Off Broadway productions; Daniel J. Watts, who has been in After Midnight, In The Heights, Memphis, Motown, and others; and Donald Webber, Jr., who was in the original Broadway cast of Motown: The Musical and appeared in Holler If Ya Hear Me.

Whorl Inside A Loop is running at Second Stage Theatre from August 4-30. For tickets and show times, visit www.2st.com.

The post Previews Begin For Whorl Inside A Loop At 2econd Stage appeared first on Broadway Black.