Nichelle Lewis will portray Dorothy in the upcoming Broadway revival of The Wiz.
The Virginian actress, who was discovered on TikTok and chosen following more than 2,000 submissions for the role, was also announced by producers on Monday as the lead in the upcoming National Tour. Kicking off in Baltimore at the Hippodrome Theatre and running from Sept. 23-30, the tour will continue to previously announced cities across the U.S. before its limited run in New York.
Wayne Brady was previously announced for the role of the Wiz on Broadway, following appearances in San Francisco Golden Gate Theatre and Los Angeles (Feb. 13 – March 3), with Alan Mingo Jr. portraying the role in additional tour cities additional including Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago, Des Moines, Tempe and San Diego.
The musical also stars Deborah Cox as Glinda; Melody A. Betts as Aunt Em and Evillene; Kyle Ramar Freeman as...
The Virginian actress, who was discovered on TikTok and chosen following more than 2,000 submissions for the role, was also announced by producers on Monday as the lead in the upcoming National Tour. Kicking off in Baltimore at the Hippodrome Theatre and running from Sept. 23-30, the tour will continue to previously announced cities across the U.S. before its limited run in New York.
Wayne Brady was previously announced for the role of the Wiz on Broadway, following appearances in San Francisco Golden Gate Theatre and Los Angeles (Feb. 13 – March 3), with Alan Mingo Jr. portraying the role in additional tour cities additional including Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago, Des Moines, Tempe and San Diego.
The musical also stars Deborah Cox as Glinda; Melody A. Betts as Aunt Em and Evillene; Kyle Ramar Freeman as...
- 8/14/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Broadway-bound revival of The Wiz, which will launch a national tour in Baltimore this fall, has cast Kyle Ramar Freeman (A Strange Loop) as the Lion, Phillip Johnson Richardson (Apple+’s Sharper) as the Tinman, and former The Voice contestant Avery Wilson as the Scarecrow.
Richardson and Wilson will be making their Broadway debuts. Casting for the character of Dorothy has yet to be announced.
The revival, featuring some new material by Amber Ruffin, is produced by Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland, Ambassador Theatre Group, Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker, who issued the joint statement today announcing the castings. The revival is set to arrive on Broadway next spring.
Featuring a book by William F. Brown and a score by Charlie Smalls (and others), the revival will be directed by Schele Williams and choreographed by JaQuel Knight. The Wiz premiered on Broadway in 1975 and won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical.
Richardson and Wilson will be making their Broadway debuts. Casting for the character of Dorothy has yet to be announced.
The revival, featuring some new material by Amber Ruffin, is produced by Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland, Ambassador Theatre Group, Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker, who issued the joint statement today announcing the castings. The revival is set to arrive on Broadway next spring.
Featuring a book by William F. Brown and a score by Charlie Smalls (and others), the revival will be directed by Schele Williams and choreographed by JaQuel Knight. The Wiz premiered on Broadway in 1975 and won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical.
- 6/1/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss and husband/entrepreneur Todd Tucker have joined the producing for the Broadway-bound revival of The Wiz, Deadline has learned.
In a statement, Burruss and Tucker said, “We are thrilled to be part of The Wiz. The songs, choreography, costumes, everything about The Wiz is epic.
“We have always said we want to help open the doors of theatre to all people,” they continued. “Theatre has the power to influence and inspire people to create change through art, and that is what we all need now. Art can heal and art can change you. It has changed us. So, come on and ease on down the road with us.”
The Wiz will be the latest Broadway production credit for Burruss and Tucker, following the recent Tony-nominated revival of The Piano Lesson and last season’s Thoughts of a Colored Man. Burruss also has...
In a statement, Burruss and Tucker said, “We are thrilled to be part of The Wiz. The songs, choreography, costumes, everything about The Wiz is epic.
“We have always said we want to help open the doors of theatre to all people,” they continued. “Theatre has the power to influence and inspire people to create change through art, and that is what we all need now. Art can heal and art can change you. It has changed us. So, come on and ease on down the road with us.”
The Wiz will be the latest Broadway production credit for Burruss and Tucker, following the recent Tony-nominated revival of The Piano Lesson and last season’s Thoughts of a Colored Man. Burruss also has...
- 5/25/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
The Wiz is easing on down to Broadway.
The beloved Black-led, music-infused spin on the Wizard of Oz is slated to return as a reimagined revival in Spring 2024, producers announced Thursday. Amber Ruffin, whose co-written Some Like It Hot with Matthew López is set to open on Broadway this December, is attached to provide additional material for the limited engagement.
The “all-new” production of the Tony-winning musical adapted from L. Frank Baum’s children’s book will serve as the Broadway directorial debut for Schele Williams.
“I wouldn’t be on Broadway if it wasn’t for The Wiz,” Williams said in a statement. “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...
The Wiz is easing on down to Broadway.
The beloved Black-led, music-infused spin on the Wizard of Oz is slated to return as a reimagined revival in Spring 2024, producers announced Thursday. Amber Ruffin, whose co-written Some Like It Hot with Matthew López is set to open on Broadway this December, is attached to provide additional material for the limited engagement.
The “all-new” production of the Tony-winning musical adapted from L. Frank Baum’s children’s book will serve as the Broadway directorial debut for Schele Williams.
“I wouldn’t be on Broadway if it wasn’t for The Wiz,” Williams said in a statement. “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...
- 12/1/2022
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The beloved musical The Wiz will return to Broadway next season in an “entirely reimagined revival” directed by Schele Williams and featuring additional material by Amber Ruffin.
The production will launch a national tour in the Fall of 2023 in Baltimore, where the original musical premiered in 1974, and will play in cities across the country before beginning a limited engagement on Broadway in Spring 2024.
The revival was announced today by producers Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland, and Ambassador Theatre Group. Featuring a book by William F. Brown and a Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls (and others) – among its best-known songs is “Ease On Down The Road” – the new production will be choreographed by Jaquel Knight with music supervision, orchestrations, and music arrangements by Joseph Joubert.
Director Williams, who will make her Broadway debut with the show – she’s also directing the upcoming revival of Disney’s Aida – said in a statement,...
The production will launch a national tour in the Fall of 2023 in Baltimore, where the original musical premiered in 1974, and will play in cities across the country before beginning a limited engagement on Broadway in Spring 2024.
The revival was announced today by producers Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland, and Ambassador Theatre Group. Featuring a book by William F. Brown and a Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls (and others) – among its best-known songs is “Ease On Down The Road” – the new production will be choreographed by Jaquel Knight with music supervision, orchestrations, and music arrangements by Joseph Joubert.
Director Williams, who will make her Broadway debut with the show – she’s also directing the upcoming revival of Disney’s Aida – said in a statement,...
- 12/1/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Director Carl Reiner's "The Jerk" is a magnum opus of rampant, unfettered buffoonery. The tale of Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin), a white man raised by Black sharecroppers, is a snapshot of Martin at his clownish, "Wild and Crazy Guys" peak. Working with screenwriters Michael Elias and Carl Gottlieb, Martin fashions Navin's journey as the most ridiculous Horatio Alger story ever told. Navin gets his first taste of success when he finds his name in the phone book, and becomes a millionaire thanks to an invention that keeps people's glasses from sliding down their nose. It's a wildly quotable classic that launched Martin's big screen career, and, according to the folks who made it, is the beneficiary of many a happy accident.
One of the 1979 film's most uproarious elements is the Beverly Hills mansion Navin buys after hitting the big time. It's a gloriously gaudy sight gag that keeps on giving –- and,...
One of the 1979 film's most uproarious elements is the Beverly Hills mansion Navin buys after hitting the big time. It's a gloriously gaudy sight gag that keeps on giving –- and,...
- 11/3/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
In modern parlance, a jerk refers to a cruel, mean-spirited, or hateful person. In 2022, "jerk" is synonymous with "bully" or "a**hole." In 1979, however, when director Carl Reiner, Steve Martin, and screenwriters Carl Gottlieb and Michael Elias were making their comedy film "The Jerk," the word referred to a fool or a buffoon, someone who was clueless. Navin R. Johnson, Martin's character in "The Jerk," is most certainly clueless, seemingly unable to fully perceive the world around him. In a long tradition of well-meaning comedic fools, Navin sees the world as a glorious place, even as he encounters crime and horror. He is a modern-day Candide, fecklessly roaming the countryside, hastily discovering success and love, then just as quickly losing them through his own hubris and idiocy. In his book "Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life," Martin himself compared "The Jerk" to Dostoyevsky's novel "The Idiot."
It takes a very...
It takes a very...
- 10/31/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Melvin Van Peebles, an actor, writer, director, producer and icon of Black cinema whose films include Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and Watermelon Man, died Tuesday night at his Manhattan home. He was 89.
Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2021 – Photo Gallery
His death was confirmed by his son, Mario Van Peebles, who said in a statement: “Dad knew that Black images matter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free. True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer’s mentality. It meant appreciating the power, beauty and interconnectivity of all people.”
Janus Films and Criterion Collection also announced the news on Twitter and said in a statement: “In an unparalleled career, distinguished by relentless innovation, boundless curiosity and spiritual empathy, Melvin Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the...
Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2021 – Photo Gallery
His death was confirmed by his son, Mario Van Peebles, who said in a statement: “Dad knew that Black images matter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free. True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer’s mentality. It meant appreciating the power, beauty and interconnectivity of all people.”
Janus Films and Criterion Collection also announced the news on Twitter and said in a statement: “In an unparalleled career, distinguished by relentless innovation, boundless curiosity and spiritual empathy, Melvin Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the...
- 9/22/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
"Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality. But ... there is, unseen by most, an underworld, a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit ... a Darkside." *hits spooky music stinger*
That's right, kids! Season Three of one of the best damned Eighties horror anthology shows is getting set to hit DVD on April 27th, and it's our duty as purveyors of all that is badass to let you know!
This season's guest haunters include Chad Allen, Brian Benben, Robert Forster, William Hickey, Mabel King, Jerry Orbach, Theresa Saldana, Alison Sweeney, Renee Taylor, and Jenna von Oÿ.
Sadly there won't be any special features to speak of, but damnit, we're getting three DVDs that add up to a whopping 476 minutes of horror entertainment, and that's worth the price of admission right there!
Check out the cover art and pre-order yourself a copy below.
That's right, kids! Season Three of one of the best damned Eighties horror anthology shows is getting set to hit DVD on April 27th, and it's our duty as purveyors of all that is badass to let you know!
This season's guest haunters include Chad Allen, Brian Benben, Robert Forster, William Hickey, Mabel King, Jerry Orbach, Theresa Saldana, Alison Sweeney, Renee Taylor, and Jenna von Oÿ.
Sadly there won't be any special features to speak of, but damnit, we're getting three DVDs that add up to a whopping 476 minutes of horror entertainment, and that's worth the price of admission right there!
Check out the cover art and pre-order yourself a copy below.
- 4/8/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
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