The Wiz - 1975 - Broadway Articles Page 11

Kokandy Productions is pleased to celebrate its fifth anniversary with an expanded season featuring four fully produced musicals, including two Chicago premieres and two guest directors. The 2017/18 Season will also include numerous readings and workshops - adding fresh voices to Kokandy's "New Works Initiative" and emphasizing the company's commitment to becoming an increasingly relevant part of Chicagoland's musical theater and new work development communities. The new season also marks Kokandy's transition to a not-for-profit organization.

After selling out shows across Chicago, "WOZ: A Rock Cabaret," is back by popular demand for five performances only now through July 17, 2016 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Joining the original cast as the Wizard is Tony Award-nominated actor Andre De Shields, Broadway's original "The Wiz" (1975). The press opening is tonight, July 15 at 7:30 pm. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Joining the original cast as the Wizard is Tony Award-nominated actor Andre De Shields, Broadway's original 'The Wiz' (1975).

After selling out shows across Chicago, 'WOZ: A Rock Cabaret,' is back by popular demand for five performances only from July 14 - 17, 2016 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Joining the original cast as the Wizard is Tony Award-nominated actor Andre De Shields, Broadway's original 'The Wiz' (1975). Inspired by the beloved film The Wizard of Oz, these Ozians will follow the yellow brick road to the tune of iconic rock anthems from the '80s and '90s. It's like your favorite radio station but better... because it has witches and munchkins! 

The 70th Annual Tony Awards are this Sunday June 12th at 8/9c hosted by James Corden. It's the biggest award show of the Broadway season and it closes out a long awards season for Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals and plays. We can't help but wonder what chances this year's Best Musical and Best Play nominees have of taking home the ultimate prize.

The cast and crew of NBC's acclaimed production of THE WIZ LIVE! reunited yesterday, Wednesday, June 1 at Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles for a panel discussion and live musical performances. Check out clips from the day below!

The cast and crew of NBC's acclaimed production of THE WIZ LIVE! reunited Wednesday, June 1 at Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles for a panel discussion and live musical performances.

Today 1985, the first Broadway revival of The Wiz opened at the Lunt-Fontanne THeatre, where it ran for 13 performances. The Wiz is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland and moved to the Majestic Theatre. The 1975 Broadway production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

On Monday, June 6 at 7:00 PM, Film Forum will present a special screening of Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob's 2005 documentary Carmen & Geoffrey, with the filmmakers and dancer Carmen De Lavallade in person. 

Joining the original cast as the Wizard is Tony Award-nominated actor Andre De Shields, Broadway's original 'The Wiz' (1975).

Oh, the places you'll go! The Oregon Shakespeare Festival transports audiences to a ghostly Danish castle, dynastic China, and Oz's Emerald City when its outdoor theatre opens the weekend of June 17-19. The Allen Elizabethan Theatre will feature Hamlet, directed by Lisa Peterson; the classic 1970s musical The Wiz, directed by Robert O'Hara; and The Winter's Tale, directed by Desdemona Chiang. The shows will close the weekend of October 14-16.

Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center has announced updates to its 2016 schedule. Scroll down for details!

As BroadwayWorld reported last week, after winning big at this year's GRAMMYs, the cast recording for Broadway's HAMILTON has reached a another huge milestone -- going gold.

Paper Mill Playhouse is hosting its largest fundraising event of the year, the Paper Mill Playhouse Gala on Friday, May 6, at the renowned Hilton Short Hills. The reception and silent auction begin at 6:00pm followed by dinner and dancing featuring The Eddie Bruce Band. 

When it opened at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway in 1975, The Wiz was heralded as a groundbreaking theatrical event because it was a large-scale, big-budget musical featuring an all-African American cast. The Wiz laid the foundation for other African-American hits including Dreamgirls. Most recently, The Wiz Live! was featured on NBC in December of 2015, and beginning on March 23, The Wiz will ease on down to Jacksonville with its debut at the Alhambra Theatre & Dining featuring a big cast, big costumes and a big set. The show will run through April 24.

Take a journey through the rich history of New Orleans with Grammy Award-winning Dee Dee Bridgewater, trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra at the Holland Performing Arts Center, 12th and Douglas streets, tonight, March 12, 2016, at 8 p.m.

Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel today announced casting for the Encores! production of 1776, the classic Tony Award-winning musical about how the founding fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence and gave birth to a new nation. 1776 will star Terence Archie, John Behlmann, Larry Bull, Nikki Renee Daniels, Andre De Shields, Macintyre Dixon, Santino Fontana, Alexander Gemignani, John Hickok, John Hillner, John Larroquette, Kevin Ligon, John-Michael Lyles, Laird Mackintosh, Michael McCormick, Michael Medeiros, Christiane Noll, Bryce Pinkham, Wayne Pretlow, Tom Alan Robbins, Robert Sella, Ric Stoneback, Jubilant Sykes, Vishal Vaidya, Nicholas Ward, and Jacob Keith Watson. 

Take a journey through the rich history of New Orleans with Grammy Award-winning Dee Dee Bridgewater, trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra at the Holland Performing Arts Center, 12th and Douglas streets, Saturday, March 12, 2016, at 8 p.m.

THE WIZ LIVE producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron chatted with BroadwayWorld about the production's recent success at the NAACP Image Awards and more. Check out the full interview here!

Among the winners announced was NBC's THE WIZ LIVE in the category of Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special.

The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia (UBC) presents renowned jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater with Irvin Mayfield and his New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO), February 27, 2016 at 8pm in the Chan Shun Concert Hall.

With this strong ratings report, NBC will air an encore telecast of its holiday production on Saturday, Dec. 19 (8-11 p.m. ET).

Grammy-winning singer Ne-Yo and Shanice Williams starred in THE WIZ LIVE! on NBC on December 3rd, and together they conquered Oz and social media.

This week FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visitwww.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Sony Music Masterworks and Broadway Records release the original soundtrack of the NBC Television event 'The Wiz LIVE!' via all digital service providers (download and streaming) today, December 11, followed by the CD on December 18.