After a profitable run on Broadway, the pleasant, energetic musical “The Wiz” is at The Nationwide Theatre till April 12.
The revival of the beloved musical – which bought out its pre-Broadway performances in D.C. in 2023 – now hosts writer and Emmy and Tony-nominated author Amber Ruffin’s adaptation of the unique 1975 script, that includes reimagined slang, youthful friendship dynamics, and the continued essence of Black excellence and achievement.
“For [Dorothy] to be a younger Black woman main these folks — that’s incredible. We needed her to be the pure chief that she is,” stated Ruffin, the “Some Prefer it Scorching” playwright, in a Broadway.com interview.
Changing into Dorothy
On this nationwide tour model of “The Wiz,” Dorothy is performed by Phoenix Assata Lafreniere, who began with the solid in early February as a member of the ensemble and because the understudy for the function she’s now starring in.
After 4 weeks of rehearsals, Lafreniere was supplied the a part of Dorothy. At The Nationwide, Lafreniere sang, danced, and added lots of pleasure to her function as chief of the pack. Since taking over one of many key leads on the tour, it’s been a whirlwind ever since for the 22-year-old native of Oakland, California.
“Similar to me, my household was shocked that it occurred so rapidly. They freaked out,” stated Lafreniere in an unique interview with The Washington Informer.
Lafreniere grabbed onto the ring of musical theater in center college after listening to music from a well-known Lin-Manuel Miranda musical.
“I fell in love with ‘Hamilton,’” she stated. “That opened doorways for me in musical theater.”
Lafreniere started engaged on musicals through the summers and in highschool. She is now a 2026 graduate of New York’s Tempo College with a Bachelor’s in High-quality Arts.
The arduous work has paid off in what may be thought-about file time. Lafreniere remembers singing along with her mom, Aisha Tanner, a former member of the R&B group Atlantic Starr. However “The Wiz” has been in her coronary heart for a very long time.
“I knew all the songs from the film ‘The Wiz,’ stated Lafreniere. “‘You Can’t Win,’ sung by Michael Jackson, is my favourite.”
The No-Holding-Again Solid and Crew of ‘The Wiz‘
Directed by Schele Williams and choreographed by Jaquel Knight, “The Wiz” has one of many hardest-working casts on stage.
The dance sequences have been tight. Popping out of intermission was one of the club-worthy, drop-to-the-floor moments on stage, with a lot of the viewers wanting prepared to affix in.
It was a delight to see the return of Alan Mingo Jr. as The Wiz. He was in the identical function through the pre-Broadway run of the musical in 2023. Mingo has embraced his wizard function because the debonair, typically smug hustler who guarantees loads however, as audiences be taught, can not ship a factor.
Dorothy’s crew is gifted and dedicated, as their chief should always preserve them hopeful. Elijah Ahmad Lewis is The Scarecrow, D. Jerome performs The Tinman, and Cal Mitchell performs The Lion. Their performing engaged audiences as they went from upbeat to sorrowful. The dialogue was spiced with greater than sufficient comedy because the troupe traveled on the yellow brick highway.
Among the many most great moments have been when the vacationers sang collectively on the heart-tugging songs “Be a Lion” and “What Would I Do If I May Really feel.” The vocal harmonies have been stupendous.
Additional, Laferniere knocked it out of the park on the signature closing music “House.” Just a few sniffles might be heard from the viewers.
The expertise on stage for “The Wiz” got here to D.C. to present households an excellent time at Broadway at The Nationwide, and the viewers liked each second.
What Lafrieniere hopes for audiences is that they get a way of belonging from the musical.
“I would like us to really feel like we are able to do all the issues that we set our minds to,” Lafreniere informed The Informer. “Additionally, I would like us to construct friendships and discover likenesses in our variations by main with love.”
The schedule for the North American tour of “The Wiz” is posted at wizmusical.com/tour-dates.
