Who among us hasn’t dreamt of what a life beyond the rainbow might be like? Ja’Duke’s production of The Wiz makes it possible for you to journey down the yellow brick road without having to travel all the way to Kansas. Pack your bags and get your tickets – your trip to the Emerald City begins at 7:00 pm in the Greenfield High School Auditorium, 10 Lenox Ave. Greenfield, Massachusetts on Friday, May 1, 2009 and Saturday, May 2, 2009. The last performance of The Wiz is Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 2pm.
L. Frank Baum’s classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which introduced us to Dorothy and her friends in 1900, will come to life in grand Ja’Duke style. The Wiz is a modern musical realization of Baum’s original tale. The Wiz, infused with rock, gospel and soul, features music and lyrics by Juilliard alum and jazz pianist Charlie Smalls. William F. Brown, who adapted Baum’s familiar story, voiced his book for the show in the vernacular, making the adventures in Oz energetically fresh and contemporary.
Under the direction of Kimberly Waynelovich and presenting a cast of over 250 performers from The Ja’Duke Center for the Performing Arts, The Wiz will delight children of all ages.. Ja’Duke’s stellar cast features Dorothy (Kristina Boguslawski), the Scarecrow (Cody Kolasinski), the Tinman (Patrick McGuire), the cowardly Lion (David Neil) Judith Dean Kulp as Aunt Em, Shelley Roberts as Glinda and Duane Waters as The Wiz. With direction and choreography by Kimberly Waynelovich and staging created by Nick Waynelovich, The Wiz is a cornucopia of visual and audio delight. Artistic design by Chris Rooks creates a fantasyland sure to transport you to a new world. The entire Ja’Duke cast of characters will strut and jam down the yellow brick road as Ja’Duke transforms the Greenfield Auditorium into a land you only thought you knew.
The first musical rendition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz came in 1903. Called simply The Wizard of Oz, it opened at the Majestic Theater in New York and ran for a year and a half. In 1939, the legendary MGM film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland, was released and 1975 saw the Broadway birth of The Wiz, which, serendipitously, opened at the Majestic Theater on January 5 and enjoyed a four-year-long run on The Great White Way. The Wiz was the darling of the 1975 Tony Awards®, earning eight nominations and taking home seven statuettes, including the awards for Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Choreography. That same year, the Drama Desk critics honored The Wiz with nine nominations and five awards, including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Music and Lyrics, and Outstanding Director of a Musical. The Wiz also catapulted the duet “Ease On Down the Road,” as sung by Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, into a 1978 Motown hit.
