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The Wiz Opening Night Portrait Gallery

Photos by Emilio Madrid for Broadway.com

Apr 20, 2024

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“I wanted to be able to sing and inspire people. And now I'm Dorothy.” —Nichelle Lewis

Wayne Brady returns to Broadway as The Wiz’s title character

Broadway veteran Deborah Cox plays the glittering good witch Glinda and is one of The Wiz producers

Avery Wilson makes his Broadway debut as Dorothy’s brainless buddy, Scarecrow

Phillip Johnson Richardson celebrates his Broadway debut as The Wiz’s Tinman

Kyle Ramar Freeman bravely joins Dorothy’s gang as The Wiz’s Lion

Melody A. Betts makes her Broadway debut in two roles: sweet Aunt Em and baddie Evillene

“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.” —JaQuel Knight, choreographer-to-the-stars making his Broadway choreographic debut

“The Wiz taught me so much about my Blackness at a young age.” —Director Schele Willliams, on the movie version of The Wiz

The Wiz producer Kandi Burruss

The Wiz producer Brian Moreland

“We wanted [Dorothy] to be the natural leader that she is." —Amber Ruffin, who adapted the show’s book for a new generation

The Wiz’s original Dorothy, Stephanie Mills, feels right at home

Shanice Williams portrayed Dorothy in The Wiz Live!

Broadway vet Common, who appears in TV's The Wiz Live! and is a producer of the new staging

Don’t nobody bring Peppermint no bad news!

Jaja's African Hair Braiding playwright Jocelyn Bioh

Gayle Turner, who understudied Dorothy in the original Broadway production of The Wiz

Ken Page, who played the Lion during the original Broadway run of The Wiz, still standing strong and tall

Tony winner Melba Moore wanted to see the wizard

Daytime talk show host Tamron Hall, reporting from Oz

The Wiz producers Kristin Caskey and Mike Isaacson

Daytime Emmy Award-winning talk show host, comedian, actor, and best-selling author Sherri Shepherd

Vocal and music arranger Allen René Louis with music supervisor, orchestrator and music arranger Joseph Joubert

Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart, who played the Lion in The Wiz at New York City Center in 2009

Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche helped the cast get their faces on as the show’s make-up designer

Ensemble members Allyson Kaye Daniel, who plays Addaperle, and Anthony Murphy

Ensemble members Polanco Jones, Jr. and Collin Heyward

Ensemble members Keenan D. Washington and Christina Jones

Ensemble member Olivia Jackson

Alan Mingo Jr. portrayed The Wizard in the national tour and covers the part on Broadway

Ensemble members Shayla Caldwell and Jay Copeland

Judith Franklin joins her third Broadway company with The Wiz

Ensemble member Mariah Lyttle

Ensemble member Cristina Raé

Ensemble member Kolby Kindle

Swing Matthew Sims, Jr.

Dance caption and ensemble member Amber Jackson

Swing Timothy Wilson

Swing Dustin Praylow

Maya Bowles shapeshifts in the ensemble of The Wiz

Swing Michael Samarie George

Lauryn Adams comes to Oz as one of the production’s swings

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