Casting Is Announced for a ‘Wiz’ Revival
Wayne Brady will play the Scarecrow and David Alan Grier (“In Living Color”) will be the Wiz in a revival of the musical “The Wiz,” to be directed by Des McAnuff at the La Jolla Playhouse in California. The show begins previews on Sept. 26 and opens on Oct. 11. Robert Brill (“A Streetcar Named Desire”) will design the set in the Mandell Weiss Theater, which has been redesigned for the production. Mr. McAnuff has won two Tony Awards for direction, and was nominated this year for “Jersey Boys,” winner of the best musical award. “The Wiz,” based on “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum, with a book by William F. Brown, and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, opened on Broadway on Jan. 5, 1975, won seven Tony Awards that year and ran for 1,672 performances. A 1984 revival closed after only 13 performances. Also in the cast of the revival are Nikki M. James (“All Shook Up”) as Dorothy, Tituss Burgess (“Jersey Boys”) as the Lion and Michael Benjamin Washington (“La Cage aux Folles”) as the Tin Man.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/arts/25arts.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/arts/25arts.html
