Project1VOICE and the Nederlander Organization Celebrate the 50-year Legacy of THE WIZ

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Ep. 73 of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang will air on Sunday, April 21 at 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996 and stream on MNN2. 1216807_0407
In honor of the upcoming 50th Anniversary of The Wiz, Project1Voice's Erich McMillan-McCall and The Nederlander Organization are speaking the names of those creatives associated with the Broadway production of The Wiz and celebrating their legacy. The current Broadway revival of THE WIZ has performances at The Marquis for a limited run through August 17. www.wizmusical.com
The Wiz, Charlie Smalls’ musical adaption of The Wizard of Oz, opened at the Majestic Theatre January 5, 1975. The production played 15 previews and 1,672 performances before closing January 28, 1979. The musical earned eight Tony nominations, winning 7 including best musical.
The Wiz follows Kansas farm girl Dorothy who works to find her way home after being transported in a tornado to a magical land. The production featured music and lyrics by Smalls and book by William F. Brown.
The original production starred Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, Tiger Haynes as the Tinman, Ted Ross as the Lion, Hinton Battle as the Scarecrow, Clarice Taylor as Addaperle, Mabel King as Evillene, André De Shields as the Wiz, and Dee Dee Bridgewateer as Glinda alongside Tasha Thomas, Phylicia Ayers-Allen, Leettie Battle, Danny Beard, Phillip Bond, Leslie Butler, Pi Douglass, Ronald Dunham, Wendy Edmead,Frank Floyd, Rodney Green, Sam Harkness, Eugene Little, Eleanor McCoy, Frances Morgan, Joni Palmer, John Parks, Howard Porter, Jozella Reed, Kenneth Scott, Evelyn Thomas, Andy Torres, Carl Weaver, and Ralph Wilcox. Rounding out the cast were Butterfly McQueen and Arnetia Walker as standbys and Cynthia Ashby and Otis Sallid as swings.
Directed by Geoffrey Holder with choreography by George Faison, The Wiz featured scenic design by Tom H. John, lighting design by Tharon Musser, costume design by Holder, and sound design by Richard J.C. Miller with stage management by Charles Blackwell, Henry Velez, and Jerry Laws.
The show was revived in 1984 starring Stephanie Mills as Dorothy once more.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media producer, activist, documentarian and an Award winning filmmaker and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Lia is also the host and Executive Producer of BACKSTAGE PASS WITH LIA CHANG, an Arts and Entertainment and Lifestyle program that airs on Sunday at 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996 and streams on MNN2. Lia was recently profiled on Asian American Life. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. www.liachang.com www.liachangphotography.com
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