Encores! Plans Summer Run of The Wiz

The Encores! series at New York City Center will present a three-week run of The Wiz in summer 2009. The revival will be directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, who collaborated on the hit Broadway musical In the Heights, and is set to run June 12-July 3. Opening night will be June 18. No casting has been announced.

A modern-day retelling of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with an African-American cast, The Wiz features a book by William F. Brown and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls. The show originally opened on Broadway on January 5, 1975, starring Stephanie Mills, Hinton Battle, Tiger Haynes, Ted Ross, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Andre De Shields. An immediate hit, The Wiz ran on Broadway for four years and won seven 1975 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. A movie version starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell and Tony winner Ross was released in 1978.

The Wiz is the third show to be presented for an extended summer run by Encores!, following Gypsy 2007 and Damn Yankees 2008.