A new production of 'The Wiz' is heading out on a national tour next year before following the yellow brick road to Broadway, with its director hoping the show becomes a 'touchstone for a new generation.'
Director Schele Williams tells The Associated Press that it’s a very personal musical for her, creating possibilities in her mind as a girl when she saw it.
“It was the first time I was able to ever imagine myself on Broadway. It was because of ‘The Wiz.’” she said. “I’m really excited to awaken those dreams in other little Black girls like me.” The tour launches in the fall in Baltimore, home of the 1974 world premiere of the musical. Following its run at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, the tour will cross the country before it starts its limited engagement on Broadway in spring 2024.
“My goal with this show is for it to be an extraordinary celebration of Black culture, for it to be a touchstone for a new generation in the way that it was for my generation,” said Williams.The new show will be choreographed by JaQuel Knight and music supervision, orchestrations and music arrangements are by Joseph Joubert.
The show was adapted from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum, with a book by William F. Brown, and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls.
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