Taylor Iman Carter

The Wiz concludes WSTG's 20th season

Contributed By:The 411 News

The words are jive, the songs upbeat. West Side Theatre Guild’s The Wiz is the 1975 musical rework of Frank L. Baum’s children’s book The Wizard of Oz that was brought to Broadway by an all-black cast.

The story begins on a tumbledown farm in Kansas, but the tornado sets Dorothy and Toto down in the city of Oz.

After celebrating the demise of the Wicked Witch of the East with the Munchkins, Dorothy departs for the Emerald City with a live yellow brick road. She encounters a hip Scarecrow who wants to join her because he has a feeling he isn't going anywhere; an uptight Tin Man who needs Dorothy's help to hang loose again, and a mama's-boy Lion who has lost faith in the psychiatric help he's been getting from an owl. Together they will seek help from the great and powerful Oz.

The Wiz is directed by Mark Spencer with choreography by Asia Dickens.

The cast includes Taylor Iman Carter as Dorothy. Carter was recently featured on the Steve Harvey Show. She has performed in the opening acts for recording stars Mario and Jordin Sparks.

Other leading characters are Dwayne Coleman Jr. as the Tin Man, Ryan Robinson as the Scarecrow, Lehman Gray as the Lion, Markeysha Coleman as Addaperle, Dwayne Coleman Sr. as the Wiz, Rose Marie Simmons as Evilene and Altovise Ferguson as Glenda.

Performance schedule is April 26, 27, 28, 29, May 3, 4, 5, 6 at 7 p.m.; April 30 and May 7 at 4 p.m.

Tickets are $20 advance and $25 at the door. Tickets can be reserved by calling (219) 390- 9784.

The performance venue is the 125-seat theatre of the West Side Theatre Guild at Gary’s West Side High School, 900 Gerry; use Door E.

Story Posted:03/26/2017