Watch JaQuel Knight, Choreographer to the Stars, Rehearse the “Mind-Blowing” Moves of The Wiz

JaQuel Knight has choreographed some of the biggest names in entertainment. But getting to make his Broadway choreographic debut with The Wiz, he says, is “the biggest moment” in an already stunning career.

“I literally screamed,” he tells Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek on The Broadway Show, of hearing the news. “That's literally the only thing you can do. I was just in awe.”

The new production of the Tony Award-winning 1975 musical will play the Marquis Theatre beginning March 29, 2024 ahead of an official April 17 opening night. If Knight’s involvement is anything to go by, it will boast some serious swag.

Born in North Carolina and raised in Atlanta, Knight grew up playing the saxophone, marching in the school band and studiously replicating MTV music video moves in his bedroom. A weekend dance workshop changed his world forever. In 2008, at just 19, he created the choreography for Beyoncé's “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).” That video, with now-iconic choreography inspired by a 1969 Bob Fosse routine, was a global phenomenon.

Since then, he has been one of the most sought-after choreographers around, creating moves for stars like Megan Thee Stallion, Kanye West, Miley Cyrus, P!nk, Pharrell, Chance the Rapper and Britney Spears.

Now, Knight is ready to take things to a whole new level. “The things we're doing in The Wiz are so beautiful and so great and, I think, going to really give ‘Single Ladies’ a good run for its money,” he says.

The Wiz is a joyous, all-Black retelling of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with no shortage of opportunities for spectacular movement. Knight’s choreographic vision will encompass and celebrate the past, present and future of Black dance, all set to the (eminently danceable) rock-soul-gospel grooves of Charlie Smalls’ score. “It's a lot of dance and it's a lot of different types of dance,” says Knight, who promises that the Emerald City sequence will be particularly “mind-blowing.” “It’s the first time we will ever witness this type of dance, this sort of energy, this sort of love on a Broadway stage.” He added, “I'm letting the story and the music lead.”

The company represents some of the best talent Knight has ever worked with—which is saying something. “Our singers are great dancers. Our dancers are awesome singers. We really have the cream of the crop.” The cast features Nichelle Lewis as Dorothy, Deborah Cox as Glinda, Melody A. Betts as Aunt Em/Evillene, Kyle Ramar Freeman as the Lion, Phillip Johnson Richardson as the Tinman, Avery Wilson as the Scarecrow and Wayne Brady as The Wiz.

Knight is working the company “extremely hard,” he admits—as evidenced in The Broadway Show’s visit to rehearsals for “No Bad News” and “You Can’t Win.” Though, when it comes to perfecting the moves audiences will see on stage, probably no one is working harder than Knight himself. “Oz is tiring, but it is a really beautiful and exciting place to be.”