Deborah Cox Joins Broadway Cast of The Wiz
(© David Gordon)
Canadian recording artist Deborah Cox will return to Broadway in the forthcoming revival of The Wiz, which is set to embark on a national tour this fall ahead on an anticipated run on Broadway in the spring of 2024. The tour launches at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre on September 23. Venue and dates for the Broadway run have not been announced. Click here for a complete list of tour stops.
Cox was last seen on Broadway in the 2013 revival of Jekyll & Hyde. In 2004, she stepped into the title role of Elton John’s Aida.
Melody A. Betts has also been announced in the role of Aunt Em and Evillene. Betts has previously appeared in the national tours of Waitress and The Sound of Music.
Cox and Betts join the previously announced Wayne Brady, who will take over the title role from Alan Mingo, Jr. in San Francisco. Also announced are Kyle Ramar Freeman (A Strange Loop) as the Lion, Phillip Johnson Richardson (Sharper) as the Tinman, and Avery Wilson (The Voice) as the Scarecrow.
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 production will also feature vocal/music arrangements by Allen René Louis and dance arrangements by Derek Dixie.
The design team will include scenic design by Academy Award winner Hannah Beachler (Black Panther, Beyonce’s Black is King and Lemonade), costume design by Emmy Award winner and two-time Academy Award nominee Sharen Davis (Ray, Dreamgirls), lighting design by Barrymore Award winner Ryan J. O’Gara (Thoughts of a Colored Man), sound design by Jon Weston (Parade), and wig design by Academy Award winner Mia Neal (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom).
