Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty
The Wizis coming back!
On Thursday, Ambassador Theatre Group and producers Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson and Brian Anthony Moreland announced that a brand-new production ofThe Wizwill launch a national tour in fall 2023 and undertake a limited engagement on Broadway in the spring of 2024.
“It is, in every way, a celebration of Black excellence,” Williams added. “I am honored to helm this production and I can’t think of a better time to tell this story.”
“There’s not one piece of art that has had influence on popular culture likeThe Wiz,” Knight said, continuing on to say that he is “humbled” to “continue the storytelling and legacy building on the beauty of blackness through dance, movement, & attitude.”
Hulton Archive/Getty
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“I’m honored to stand on the backs of those greats who’ve opened this door, such as the Louis Johnson and George Faison,” the choreographer added. “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.”
The Wiz’snational tour will start in Baltimore, where the original musical hosted its world premiere in 1974, and travel throughout the country before it settles into its limited engagement on Broadway.
Michael Smalls, son of the musical’s composer Charlie Smalls, whodied in September 1987 at 43, said in a statement Thursday that he is “thrilled” that the musical will return to Broadway.
“I am so happy to know a new generation will be discovering these wonderful songs and learn of my father’s extraordinary talent,” he said.
The Wiz, based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s novelThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz, “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,” a synopsis for the show reads.
The musical originally premiered on Broadway in 1975 and won seven Tonys, paving the way for a run that lasted four years and 1,672 performances, according to a release.
A feature film adaptation starringDiana RossandRichard Pryorreleased in 1978, while NBC produced a version of the musical as a live television special in December 2015.
source: people.com
