TV: THE WIZ 'FLIPS' On Down The Road: Backstage with James Monroe Iglehart

The Wiz plays its final performance on July 5th at New York City Center. The Encores! Summer Stars production of The Wiz stars Ashanti, LaChanze, Joshua Henry, James Monroe Iglehart, Christian Dante White, Colman Domingo, Tichina Arnold and Dawnn Lewis.

BroadwayWorld gave the talented James Monroe Iglehart a FLIP video camera and sent him on a backstage quest to find one very special member of the cast...

The Wiz, the 1974 rock and soul musical based on the beloved L. Frank Baum story about Dorothy and her adventures in Oz, will be directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, with music direction by Alex Lacamoire, (the team responsible for the Tony-winning In the Heights). The Wiz has a book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and orchestrations by Harold Wheeler. The original production was directed by Geoffrey Holder and choreographed by George Faison. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Choreography.

In addition to Ashanti, Joshua Henry, James Monroe Iglehart, Christian Dante White, Tichina Arnold, Dawnn Lewis, Coleman Domingo and LaChanze, the cast includes Raymond Lamar Bennett, Tanya Birl, Darlesia Cearcy, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Angela Grovey, Ebony Haswell, Lauren Lim Jackson, Kevin-Anthony, Carl Lation, Jennifer Locke, Amy McClendon, Kenna Michelle Morris, John Eric Parker,Herman Payne, Ryan Rankine, Levensky Smith, Ephraim Sykes, Adrienne Warren,Daniel J. Watts, Juson Williams and William B. Wingfield.

Colman Domingo replaced Orlando Jones in the title role of The Wiz for the final six performances, June 29 - July 5 at New York City Center. Mr. Jones had to leave the show early in order to shoot his new series "Crash Course" for ABC-TV.

The Wiz is made possible, in part, by Roz and Jerry Meyer, Ruthe and Tony Ponturo and the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!

Encores! Summer Stars, (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director) now in its third season, is an expanded version of City Center's acclaimed Encores! series. Summer Stars is dedicated to presenting Broadway classics in limited-run productions. The previous Encores! Summer Stars presentations were the critically-acclaimed productions of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone and Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

New York City Center (Arlene Shuler, President and CEO) has long been known and beloved by New York audiences not only as one of the City's preeminent performing arts institutions but also as an accessible and welcoming venue for dance and theater. New York City Center produces the Tony-honored Encores! musical theater series, and is home to some of the country's leading dance companies, includingAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Paul Taylor Dance Company and Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, as well as Manhattan Theatre Club, one of New York's leading theater companies. In 2004 New York City Centerlaunched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. In 2006, New York City Center formed partnerships with London's Sadler's Wells Theatre to facilitate the exchange of innovative dance works, and with Carnegie Hall to work together on exciting new programming initiatives between the two neighboring institutions.

The Wiz runs through July 5th. Tickets range from $25 - $110 and are available at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix(r) at 212-581-1212, or online at www.nycitycenter.org.

THE WIZ PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: No performances on July 3rd and 4th. Closing performance is on Sunday, July 5th at 7:00 pm.