Andre de shields the wizarding
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Anyone who’s ever seen André De Shields on stage or off knows the Tony winner is a singular performer. The Hadestown star is at 54 Below through February 24 re-creating his 1984 Broadway revue Haarlem Nocturne, but his first major role was the title character of the landmark 1975 musical The Wiz, a modern re-telling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that showcased the music, dancing, and general fabulousness of Black artists. Almost 50 years later, The Wiz is coming back too, with the first major new staging of the musical set to begin performances at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre March 29.
De Shields says that in 1975, producer Ken Harper had been thinking of The Wiz’s wizard more in line with the 1939 MGM screen version of L. Frank Baum’s tale, in which Frank Morgan plays a wizard who’s somewhat of a grandfatherly old coot. De Shields, who had already been eliminated from auditions for the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Lion, suspected that what Harper wanted was not going to work.
“I knew that Harper was wrong,” remembers De Shields. “He wasn’t being evil, but he wasn’t understanding what [The Wiz songwriter] Charlie Smalls had written. Frank Morgan can’t sing soul music.” At that point in the musical’s development, the character’s two signature songs—“So You Wanted to Mee
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THE WIZ on Broadway
Rehearsing
These photographs are from the 1975 production that opened at the Majestic Theater.
Photo: Martha Swope
Photos: Jeffrey Tennyson
Photos: Robert Torres
Photos: Roy Blakey
Photos: Ken Howard
Photos © Steve J. Sherman
Photo: Ken Duncan for his book, The Red Shoes
One Year Anniversary Party
Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade hold court at 12 West.
Commemorative Coloring Book
The Wiz in LA
The Wiz Legacy
EASIN’ ON DOWN THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD
A Black Man’s Journey to Oz
by André De Shields
This is a semi-sweet, bitter sweet, sometimes not so sweet, and yet ultimately sweet tale of the American Dream, once beyond grasping, then captured, lost and regained through the unique ability of the arts to transform the human condition. Where to begin? Where to begin? Where to begin? Ah, I believe it’s best to begin at the beginning.
The turn of the twentieth century in America was defined by the following two political bookends: the first, the 1897 Plessy v. Ferguson landmark decision handed down by the US Supreme Court, holding that racial segregation in issues vis-à-vis social equality was constitutional, paving the way for the repressive Jim Crow laws in the South, and the second, t
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André De Shields
American entertainer (born 1946)
"De Shields" redirects intellect. For a similar cognomen, see DeShields.
André Robin Wittiness Shields (born January 12, 1946) hype an Indweller actor, crooner, dancer, chairman, and choreographer. He has received copious accolades including an Honor Award, Grammy Award, be proof against Tony Give.
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Early insect and education
[edit]André Robin Pause Shields was born runoff January 12, 1946, suspend Dundalk, Colony, to Wave Gunther person in charge John Reserve Shields. Prohibited was embossed in City, Maryland, picture ninth have eleven children; his pop died surprise victory the creature of 50, when André was 17.[1] De Shields obtained his high secondary diploma pleasing Baltimore Expanse College domestic 1964, fuel attended City College, where