Previews are now underway for The Wiz on Broadway, which began on March 29.
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Previews are now underway for The Wiz on Broadway, which began on March 29. Amber Ruffin, who provided additional material for the book of the anticipated revival, chatted with her old friend Seth Myers on Late Night With Seth Myers, all about the musical.
"We actually started in 2018...Those people were like 'we're going to Broadway' and I was like 'uh huh'," she joked. "But then we remounted it, and now we open on April 17."
Myers asked Ruffin if its weird for her, as someone who has performed, to work on a project where she is not on stage.
"Oh, I'm performing in the audience so hard, man," she said, before gushing about the talent of the show's cast. "They're so good at singing. I'm pretty quiet nowadays."
Watch the full clip here!
The cast features Nichelle Lewis as ‘Dorothy,’ Wayne Brady as ‘The Wiz,’ Deborah Cox as ‘Glinda’ and Melody A. Betts as ‘Aunt Em’ and ‘Evillene,’ Kyle Ramar Freeman as ‘Lion,’ Phillip Johnson Richardson as ‘Tinman,’ Avery Wilson as ‘Scarecrow.’ THE WIZ ensemble includes Lauryn Adams, Maya Bowles, Shayla Alayre Caldwell, Jay Copeland, Allyson Kaye Daniel, Judith Franklin, Michael Samarie George, Collin Heyward, Amber Jackson, Olivia Jackson, Christina Jones, Polanco Jones, Kolby Kindle, Mariah Lyttle, Kareem Marsh, Alan Mingo, Jr., Anthony Murphy, Dustin Praylow, Cristina Rae, Matthew Sims Jr, Avilon Trust Tate, Keenan D. Washington, and Timothy Wilson.
Featuring a book by William F. Brown and a Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls (and others), director Schele Williams (The Notebook, revival of Disney’s Aida), award-winning choreographer JaQuel Knight (Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” Black is King), additional material by Tony-nominated and Emmy-nominated writer and TV host Amber Ruffin (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Late Night With Seth Meyers”), Joseph Joubert (music supervision, orchestrations, & music arrangements), Allen René Louis (vocal arrangements, music arrangements), and Emmy Award®-winning music director and Grammy Award®-winning writer, Adam Blackstone (Dance Music Arranger), and Paul Byssainthe Jr. (Music Director), are conjuring up an Oz unlike anything ever seen before. A dynamite infusion of ballet, jazz, and modern pop will bring a whole new groove to easing on down the road.
THE WIZ design team includes scenic design by Academy Award-winning Hannah Beachler (Black Panther, Beyoncé’s Black is King and Lemonade), costume design by Emmy Award-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated Sharen Davis (Ray, Dreamgirls), lighting design by Barrymore Award-winning Ryan J. O’Gara (Thoughts of a Colored Man), sound design by Jon Weston (Parade), video and projection design by Daniel Brodie (Motown the Musical), wig design by Charles LaPointe (MJ the Musical) and make-up design by Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche (The Piano Lesson).
The production also includes ‘Everybody Rejoice’ music and lyrics by Luther Vandross, as well as the ‘Emerald City Ballet’ with music by Timothy Graphenreed.
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