”The Wiz” to return to Broadway

An all-new production of The Wiz is being prepared for a national tour, and is expected to arrive on Broadway in the spring of 2024. The tour will kick off in the fall of 2023 in Baltimore, home of the 1974 world premiere of The Wiz.

Featuring a book by William F. Brown and a Tony Award-winning score by Charlie Smalls, The Wiz retells the story of L Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz for an all-Black cast.

Schele Williams will helm this reimagined production, with choreography by Jaquel Knight, additional material by Amber Ruffin, and music supervision, orchestrations, and music arrangements by Joseph Joubert.

The Wiz premiered on Broadway in 1975 and went on to win seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Ted Ross), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Dee Dee Bridgewater), Best Choreography (George Faison), Best Direction of a Musical (Geoffrey Holder), and Best Costume Design (Geoffrey Holder). A 1978 film adaptation starred Diana Ross, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Richard Pryor, and Lena Horne.

This revival of The Wiz is being produced by Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland, and UK-based Ambassador Theatre Group – which may mean we could see this version on the other side of the Atlantic.

A UK staging was seen last winter at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester.