Ashanti, Orlando Jones, Dawnn Lewis, LaChanze and the cast of The Wiz provide a sneak peek of the City Center Encores! production.
It’s been 34 years since audiences eased on down the road and reveled in the sheer entertainment value of the Charlie Smalls-William F. Brown musical The Wiz, an African-American re-telling of the children’s classic The Wizard of Oz. Now, City Center Encores! is offering another opportunity with its Summer Stars production of the show, running June 12-July 5. TheaterMania recently visited a rehearsal for a sneak peek of two of the show’s musical numbers, and spoke with its eight leading players: Ashanti (Dorothy), Orlando Jones (The Wiz), Dawnn Lewis (Addaperle), LaChanze (Glinda), Tichina Arnold (Evilene), James Iglehart Monroe (Lion), Joshua Henry (Tinman), and Christian White (Scarecrow).