Hope Mill Theatre’s critically acclaimed festive production of The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” will be streamed online later this month.
Following the cancellation of 15 sold-out performances late last year due to Covid, the Manchester venue has reached an agreement with the musical’s rights holder to film and stream the production for a strictly limited number of performances to UK-only audiences.
With tickets limited to the number of physical seats in the theatre, the production will be streamed on 22 January (7.30pm), 23 January (2.30pm and 7.30pm), 24 January (7.30pm), 28 January (7.30pm), 29 January (2.30pm and 7.30pm) and 30 January (2.30pm and 7.30pm).
Presented by Hope Mill Theatre, in association with Ameena Hamid Productions, the first new UK production of the musical in ten years is directed by the Actor’s Touring Theatre’s artistic director and former Royal Exchange associate artistic director Matthew Xia.
Streaming by kind permission of Susan Gurman, the cast includes Cherelle Williams as Dorothy, Tarik Frimpong as Scarecrow, Llewellyn Graham as Tin Man, Jonathan Andre as Lion, Cameron Bernard Jones as The Wiz, Analisa Lamola as Addaperie, Bree Smith as Aunt Em/Glinda, Kofi Dennis as Lord High and Ashh Blackwood as Evillene. The ensemble is made up of Andile Mabhena, Shayna McPherson, Dylan Gordon-Jones, Samantha Shuma and Marisha Morgan.
The creative team for the production also includes: musical supervisor and orchestrator Sean Green, choreographer Leah Hill, designer Simon Kenny, associate costume designer Maybelle Laye, production designer George Reeve, associate projection designer Kira O’Brien, lighting designer Simisola Majekodunmi, sound designer Tony Gayle and casting director Ryan Carter, with casting support by Anne Vosser.
The Wiz is co-produced by Hope Mill Theatre alongside Hamid and assistant producer ChuChu Nwagu.
With music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, a book by William F. Brown and original orchestrations by Harold Wheeler, The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” debuted on Broadway in 1975. Inspired by L. Frank Baum’s much-loved children’s novel, the musical won seven Tonys including the award for Best Musical.
The ground-breaking production featured a career launching performance from Stephanie Mills who would return to the role of Dorothy in the 1984 Broadway revival and its subsequent London run.
The musical provided the inspiration for a big budget 1978 film with an all-star cast led by Diana Ross and Michael Jackson which was followed in 2015 by a live TV production. Mixing elements of the original 1975 Broadway production and the 1978 film version, the NBC production starred Queen Latifah in the title role and Mary J. Blige as the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wiz Live! proved a hit with both the critics and viewers when it was first broadcast in December 2015 and was one of the shows made available to homebound audiences in 2020 on The Shows Must Go On YouTube channel.
Angela Thomas
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