Video: Meet the New Director/Activist/Author Extraordinaire of the Season- Schele Williams

Schele Williams is having an awesome year... for more than one reason. Not only will she make her Broadway debut as a director later this month with The Notebook, which she co-directed with Michael Greif, but next month she does it again with the much anticipated revival of The Wiz.

Williams is no stranger to Broadway, of course. She joined the original Broadway production of Rent in 1999 (also directed by Greif), and also appeared in the original Broadway cast of Aida in 2000.

"I feel like this is the greatest time of my life," she told BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge in a recent interview. 

As if that isn't enough, Williams, a founder of Black Theatre United, also has a new children's book hitting the shelves this spring- Your Legacy Begins: First Words to Empower, which will be released on May 7. 

"I grew up thinking that the freedom I had was hard fought and that it wasn't finished. I was raised to believe that it is my job to continue the work," she said. "How can we be a part of the change that is necessary to move us all forward? That's what the journey of Black Theatre United has been. How are we continuing to open doors, keep them open, create possibilities for the next generation and make it easier for them? And make it so that they can have bigger dreams than our own? I don't just want people to walk in my footsteps and stand behind me. I want them to surpass me. I want them to blow the gates open."

Watch as she chats with Richard about both of her Broadway projects and and why 2024 is her year!

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