Producers Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland, and Ambassador Theatre Group announced today that an all-new production of the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning musical The Wiz, adapted from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, is easing on down the road toward a national tour before returning to Broadway for a limited engagement in the 2023/24 season.

Featuring a book by William F. Brown and a Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls (and others), this entirely reimagined revival is directed by Schele Williams (in her Broadway directorial debut), choreographed by Jaquel Knight (in his Broadway debut), additional material by Amber Ruffin, and music supervision, orchestrations, and music arrangements by Joseph Joubert.

The Wiz will launch its national tour in the Fall of 2023 in Baltimore, MD, home of the 1974 world premiere of the musical.  Following its run at the Hippodrome Theatre, the tour will slide into Emerald cities across the country before it begins its limited engagement on Broadway in the Spring 2024.

Director Williams commented, “I wouldn’t be on Broadway if it wasn’t for The Wiz…the music, the costumes, the choreography and Stephanie Mills! Seeing that show changed my life. It is, in every way, a celebration of Black excellence. I am honored to helm this production and I can’t think of a better time to tell this story.”

In a statement, Mr. Knight said, “It is a dream come true to be a part of what I consider the epitome of black excellence. There’s not one piece of art that has had influence on popular culture like The Wiz. I’m humbled to not only have the opportunity to leave my own mark on a true work of art, but to continue the storytelling and legacy building on the beauty of blackness through dance, movement, & attitude. I’m honored to stand on the backs of those greats who’ve opened this door, such as the Louis Johnson and George Faison; and I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to help show kids who look like me that the Theater is a world where they can see themselves.” 

“I am thrilled my father’s music, and The Wiz is returning to Broadway,” said Michael Smalls, son of The Wiz composer Charlie Smalls.  “I am so happy to know a new generation will be discovering these wonderful songs and learn of my father’s extraordinary talent.” 

Based on L. Frank Baum’s children’s book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, The Wiz takes one of the world’s most enduring (and enduringly white) American fantasies and transforms it into an all-Black musical extravaganza for the ages.

The Wiz premiered on Broadway in 1975 and became an instant sensation, going on to win seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Ted Ross), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Dee Dee Bridgewater), Best Choreography (George Faison), and in a Broadway first, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Costume Design (Geoffrey Holder). “Ease on Down the Road” became the show’s break-out single, and “Home” has since become a bona fide classic. That original production ran for four years (first at The Majestic Theatre and later at The Broadway Theatre) – and 1,672 performances – on Broadway. A 1978 film adaptation starred Diana Ross, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Richard Pryor, and Lena Horne, and marked Quincy Jones’ first collaboration with Michael Jackson.

Casting is by Tara Rubin Casting. The design team will be announced at a later date.

The post The Wiz To Return To Broadway; Jaquel Knight, Amber Ruffin, & More Attached appeared first on Broadway Black.

It’s almost time to start dreaming of a white Christmas, hanging mistletoe, decking the halls, and jingling those bells. Each year during the holiday season, we’re treated to a feast of music including traditional carols, religious hymns, and pop standards. However, if you’re tired of your favorite artist’s warbling chart-middling rendition of holiday classics, then prepare your ears for the melodic holiday sounds of Broadway Inspirational Voices (BIV). The esteemed choir will perform in a holiday concert at Harlem’s First Corinthian Baptist Church on December 14.

This isn’t the BIV’s first foray into holiday music. Last year the choir performed with Grammy Award-winning pop queen Mariah Carey in her Christmas show at the Beacon Theatre. In 2005, the choir released a holiday CD entitled “Great Joy: A Gospel Christmas” for which BIV founder and director Michael McElroy received a Grammy nomination.

Broadway Inspirational Voices is a multi-ethnic, multi-denominational choir ensemble made up of actors and musicians from Broadway and off‐Broadway shows such as Aladdin, Book of Mormon, Cinderella, Jersey Boys, Kinky Boots, The Lion King, Motown: The Musical, Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked. The BIV’s mission is “strengthening and unifying the New York community through the transcendent power of music. “

The choir was founded in 1994 by Tony nominee, actor, singer, and director McElroy and became the place where he could express his unique arrangements of known and unknown songs in and out of the American gospel and theatre songbooks. Tony Award‐winning actress and singer Phylicia Rashad serves as board president for the choir.

BIV sing Joy To The World from Great Joy: A Gospel Christmas

The BIV’s holiday concert will feature holiday classics as well as new music written and/or arranged by McElroy and music director Joseph Joubert.

Tickets for the BIV holiday concert go on sale November 1. For more information, visit here.

#SaveTheDate for our @BIVoices Holiday Concert, 12/14 @FCBC_NYC! pic.twitter.com/I1yatmhdfv

— Broadway Insp Voices (@BIVoices) October 19, 2015

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World Tenors Unleashed are:

• Matthew Hashimoto, a periodontist and singer-songwriter originally from Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Christian Guardino,  a 15 year old from Long Island, NY who was the 2014 Grand Prize Champion of “Amateur Night at The Apollo: Stars of Tomorrow.”
• Chaz’men Williams-Ali,  a tenor from St. Louis MO who studied Voice at the University of Iowa.
• Phumzile Sojola, who made his Broadway debut as Peter in the Tony award-winning production of the Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.
• Vishal Vaidya, an Indian American singer, actor, and voice teacher from the Washington, DC area.
• Ryan Shaw  of Atlanta, Georgia who played Stevie Wonder in the original Broadway cast of Motown: The Musical and recently seen on America’s Got Talent, as previously reported.

https://twitter.com/TweetsbyVish/status/623631705031749633

• Victor Ryan Robertson, an American Tenor who will reprise the role of Benny with Opera Parallele in San Francisco and at the Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera, beginning in 2016.
• Gaston Rivero, who has worldwide recognition for his dynamic stage presence, dark timbre and wide range of flexibility. During the 2002-2003 season he joined the ensemble of Baz Luhrman’s production of Puccini’s La Boheme on Broadway.
• Aaron Lavigne (Spider-Man and Turn Off The Dark), an actor, singer and songwriter with a BFA from Northern Kentucky University.
• Brad Greer, an accomplished singer from the American South and a proud member of The Broadway Boys and Broadway Inspirational Voices.

Joseph Joubert (Conductor: The Color Purple, Motown: The Musical, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Billy Elliot) is the Musical Director and Arranger. Joubert is a highly versatile musician who was most recently Musical Director, Arranger, and Pianist for Norm Lewis’ American Songbook and the PBS “Live from Lincoln Center” special.

Marion J. Caffey , the Creator, Director and Choreographer, has the rare distinction of also having written, directed, performed and choreographed on and for the Broadway stage (Street Corner Symphony, Mayor) . He is the current producer of the iconic “Amateur Night at the Apollo.” His work has appeared on Broadway and PBS Great Performances, and at The White House and The Kennedy Center.

The concert will be produced by the iconic and trailblazing Willette Murphy Klauser, president and owner of Edgework Productions and WMK Productions. Ms. Klausner produced  “Three Mo’ Tenors” and was on the producing teams for Broadway productions of Romeo and Juliet starring Condola Rashad, The Trip to Bountiful with Tony Award-winning Cicely Tyson, The Mountain Top starring Angela Bassett and Samuel Jackson, and Kat and the Kings.

World Tenors Unleashed is a concert packed full of stardom and is sure to be a sensational show! For more information on the show and how to purchase tickets, click here.

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