‘The Wiz’ Set For Return To Broadway
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The Wiz is set to make its return to Broadway. According to Playbill, a new production of the classic tale, directed by Schele Williams, will play a national tour before hitting Broadway for a limited engagement in spring 2024. Dates and theaters are soon to be announced.
Originally, The Wiz premiered on Broadway in 1975 with Stephanie Mills as Dorothy and won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The stage-show, inspired by L. Frank Baum’s children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, played on Broadway for four years and was revived in 1984.
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In 1978, the film The Wiz, starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross, was loosely adapted from the on-stage production.
The pending tour is set to launch in fall 2023 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, where the musical originally made its pre-Broadway world premiere in 1974.
“I wouldn’t be on Broadway if it wasn’t for The Wiz…the music, the costumes, the choreography, and Stephanie Mills!,” expressed Williams, founding member of Black Theater United, in a statement.
“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.”
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JaQuel Knight has been enlisted to choreograph and Amber Ruffin will provide additional material.
“It is a dream come true to be a part of what I consider the epitome of Black excellence,” adds Knight. The Wiz will serve as his Broadway debut.
“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, and 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 Theatre is a world where they can see themselves.”
