For immediate release
Contact:  Helene Davis
(212) 354-7436
helene@helenedavispr.com

ENCORES!

NEW YORK CITY CENTER presents

THE SUMMER STARS PRODUCTION OF THE WIZ

Directed by Thomas Kail & Choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler

June 12 – July 3, 2009

New York, NY, February 24, 2009 – The Wiz , the 1974  rock and soul musical based on the beloved L. Frank Baum story about Dorothy and her adventures in Oz, will be the third New York City Center Encores! Summer Stars production, running June 12 - July 3, 2009 at New York City Center, W. 55th Street between 6th & 7th Avenues.  The Wiz will be directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, the duo who brought the Tony-Award winning In the Heights to Broadway last season. A June 18th opening is planned.

The Wiz has a book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and orchestrations by Harold Wheeler. The original production was directed by Geoffrey Holder and choreographed by George Faison. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Choreography.
The Wiz is an all-black adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, told from the African-American perspective. The original Broadway production of The Wiz opened at the Majestic Theatre on January 5, 1975, moved to the Broadway Theater on May 25, 1977, running for over four years for a total of 1,672 performances.  Stephanie Mills, Hinton Battle, Tiger Haynes, Ted Ross, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Andre De Shields starred. 
Thomas Kail was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his direction of In the Heights. Mr. Kail is artistic director and co-founder of Back House Productions (BHP), the resident theatre of New York City's The Drama Book Shop. BHP has developed many new works since its founding in 2001,

including early versions of In the Heights and Anne Nelson's Savages. He also directs and co-created Freestyle Love Supreme, a hip-hop improv group that has performed in New York City, the Aspen Comedy and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and the 2006 Melbourne Comedy Festival.
Andy Blankenbuehler won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his choreography of In the Heights. He is choreographer of the upcoming Broadway production of 9 to 5, and his work has also been seen in the Broadway revival of The Apple Tree (starring Kristin Chenoweth) and the West End musical Desperately Seeking Susan.  Mr. Blankenbuehler has staged concert work for Bette Midler, and he directed, choreographed and co-conceived the hit Caesars Palace production Nights on Broadway. Other recent work includes: A Little Princess (music by Andrew Lippa), Waiting for the Moon (music by Frank Wildhorn), Broadway by the Year: 1930, 1938 and 1978, and the City Center Encores! production of The Apple Tree.

Encores! Summer Stars, (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director) now in its third season, is an expanded version of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series.  Summer Stars is dedicated to presenting Broadway classics in staged, limited-run productions. The previous Encores! Summer Stars productions were the critically-acclaimed Gypsy starring Patti LuPone, which was followed by last summer’s Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

New York City Center (Arlene Shuler, President and CEO) has long been known and beloved by New York audiences not only as one of the City’s preeminent performing art institutions but also as an accessible and welcoming venue for dance and theater.  New York City Center produces the Tony-honored Encores! musical theater series, and is home to some of the country’s leading dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Paul Taylor Dance Company and Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, as well as Manhattan Theatre Club, one of New York’s leading theater companies. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. In 2006, New York City Center formed partnerships with London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre to facilitate the exchange of innovative dance works, and with Carnegie Hall to work together on exciting new programming initiatives between the two neighboring institutions.