April 29, 2009

Upcoming: Ashanti in 'Wiz;" more Cirque; 'Night Music'

Ashanti will make her stage debut in “The Wiz” as part of New York City Center’s Encores! Summer Stars , according to the New York Times.

“The Wiz,” based on the original L. Frank Baum story “The Wizard of Oz,” first played Broadway in 1975 and garnered several Tony Awards including best musical. It spawned the 1970s rock and soul movie musical starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russel, Richard Pryor and Lena Horne.

“The Wiz” will play June 12 through July 3, with tickets priced from $25 to $110.

On Broadway later this year, Trevor Nunn will direct a revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s “A Little Night Music,” Playbill reports. It will be an effort by England’s highly regarded Chocolate Factory Productions, with a “tentative” opening set for December.

Elsewhere, the New York Times reports that Cirque du Soleil has set aside plans to build a permanent home in NYC, but instead will start a multi-month at the Beacon Theater in February 2010. And in 2011, Cirque will “establish a four-month summer extravaganza in Radio City Music Hall as a warm-weather counterweight to the ‘Christmas Spectacular,’” the Times reports. That’s in addition to winter productions of “Wintuk,” at Madison Square Garden.

Currently, Cirque du Soleil is staging “Kooza” on Randalls Island through May 10. (See the “Kooza” reviews.)

Correction: This article has been updated to add the reference to the original Broadway production of “The Wiz,” which came before the movie.

April 29, 2009 11:48 AM in Broadway

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