Broadway's revival of The Wiz, currently running at the Marquis Theatre, is welcoming us into the weekend with a surprise release of two tracks from its upcoming cast album, due to digitally release June 14 from Immersive/Interscope Records. Hear Nichelle Lewis, Kyle Ramar Freeman, Avery Wilson, and Phillip Johnson Richardson sing "Be a Lion" above.
Also out for early listening: Lewis' climactic "Home." Listen below.
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The Wiz, featuring a score by Charlie Smalls and a book by William F. Brown, premiered on Broadway in 1975, transforming L. Frank Baum's classic children's novel into an all-Black "super soul musical," as it was originally billed. This new revival, the musical's first since the '80s, features additional material by 2023 Tony Award nominee Amber Ruffin. The upcoming album will be the musical's first new English-language cast album since the 1975 original Broadway recording.
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The production opened at Broadway's Marquis Theatre April 17 after beginning previews March 29, capping off a pre-Broadway tour that began last year. Schele Williams (The Notebook) is at the helm. Choreography is by JaQuel Knight.
Newcomer Lewis stars as Dorothy, joined in the cast by Deborah Cox as Glinda, Melody A. Betts as Aunt Em and Evillene, Freeman (A Strange Loop) as the Lion, Richardson (Sharper) as the Tinman, and Wilson (The Voice) as the Scarecrow.
Joseph Joubert is providing music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements, with dance arrangements by Adam Blackstone and Terence Vaugn, vocal arrangements by Allen René Louis, music direction by Paul Byssainthe Jr., scenic design by Hannah Beachler, costume design by Sharen Davis, lighting design by Ryan J. O'Gara, video and projection design by Daniel Brodie, sound design by Jon Weston, wig design by Charles G. LaPointe, and makeup design by Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche. Casting is by Tara Rubin and Olivia Paige West. Ralph Stan Lee serves as production stage manager.
Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland, Ambassador Theatre Group, Kandi Burruss, and Todd Tucker are producing.
Visit WizMusical.com.
Kyle Ramar Freeman, Nichelle Lewis, Phillip Johnson Richardson, and Avery Wilson in The Wiz
Nichelle Lewis, Avery Wilson, and company of The Wiz
Kyle Ramar Freeman, Nichelle Lewis, Wayne Brady, Phillip Johnson Richardson, and Avery Wilson
Nichelle Lewis and Melody Betts in The Wiz
Melody A. Betts and company of The Wiz
Deborah Cox in The Wiz
Phillip Johnson Richardson in The Wiz
Nichelle Lewis and Deborah Cox in The Wiz
Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady
Company of The Wiz
Kyle Ramar Freeman, Avery Wilson, Nichelle Lewis, and Phillip Johnson Richardson in The Wiz
Deborah Cox, Nichelle Lewis, and company of The Wiz
Wayne Brady
Kyle Ramar Freeman and Nichelle Lewis in The Wiz
Wayne Brady
