Below are photos of “The Wiz” cast (Ashanti and co.) on stage during the June 17 show.

Tweet This Post 

Tweet This Post 

Tweet This Post 

MYFOXNY - R&B singer Ashanti is lighting up the stage as Dorothy in the Broadway production, ‘The Wiz.’

Her relationship with Michael Jackson has made the last few days exceptionally difficult for the singer. The two were good friends.

Ashanti performed Jackson’s ‘Rock With You’ at all her concerts.

Watch the video (below) for Good Day NY’s Rosanna Scotto’s interview with Ashanti.

Tweet This Post 

Examiner.com: The Encores! Summer Stars production of The Wiz starring Ashanti will host a free post-matinee talkback on Wednesday, July 1 at NY City Center, 131 W. 55th St. (between Sixth and Seventh avenues).

Encores Artistic Director, Jack Virtel, and other company members will take questions from the audience about the show and show business. The program will run about 45 minutes.

The production opened June 18 and stars Ashanti, LaChanze and Orlando Jones. The show is based on The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum. The book is by William F. Brown and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls.

For more information visit: New York City Center.

Tweet This Post 

Tweet This Post 

André De Shields (pictured with Ashanti) of the original 1975 Broadway production of ‘The Wiz,’ visits the cast of the current Encores production of ‘The Wiz’ at New York City Center-Backstage (June 22, 2009).

Tweet This Post 

Ashanti performs “Home” from the Broadway classic ‘The Wiz’, followed by a short interview which aired this morning (June 23rd, 2009) on “Live with Regis and Kelly”.

Tweet This Post 

NEW YORK - JUNE 22: Ashanti attends a check presentation to the Century 21 Path to Your Dreams Sweepstakes Winners at Grand Central Terminal on June 22, 2009 in NYC.

To read and article about the event, click here.

Tweet This Post 

NYMag.com: On a dreary mid-June afternoon, Ashanti is admiring a sketch of a special pair of pumps Giuseppe Zanotti has whipped up for her red-carpet debut as Dorothy in City Center’s production of The Wiz. She made it to the Zanotti showroom during a break from rehearsals. “They’re so hot. I love them—they’re green for Emerald City!” says Ashanti, today shod in Ugg boots. The rendering shows a high (high) heel covered in sparkly chartreuse Swarovski crystals. “Custom-made, just for me,” Ashanti coos. “I’ve been getting my shoes from Giuseppe since my first album, and he’s going back to Italy to make these ones for me. I’m spe-cial, I’m spe-cial,” she singsongs.

When The Wiz debuted on Broadway, in 1974, it was groundbreaking—an all-black adaptation of the whiter-than-white Wizard of Oz. The show ran for four years; its one revival flopped. The 1978 movie adaptation, set in a supernatural Harlem and starring Diana Ross as Dorothy, failed in the theaters but became a cult hit.

“That was before my time,” says Ashanti, 28. She grew up in Glen Cove, Long Island, and shot to fame being paired by producer Irv Gotti with well-known rappers like Ja Rule and Fat Joe. Her 2002 solo album, Ashanti, sold over 500,000 copies in its first week. For a while, Ashanti was the hottest act in R&B, the only girl—a good girl, at that—in a male rap clique. But last month Gotti dropped her from his label.

The Wiz is her new beginning. According to the production’s artistic director, Jack Viertel (who says that the idea for a revival of The Wiz came to him after Obama’s election), Ashanti was cast for both her unassuming charm and the fact that she’d draw a younger audience. “My agent called me and told me it’d be a great opportunity,” she says. “I used to watch the movie in my aunt’s basement. And theater is so prestigious; I thought it’d be a good thing to try.” This version, by the way, is set in Kansas, not Harlem.

But back to all the shoes. “Let’s look around, ease on down the road,” she jokes. “I’m a diamondy jewelry person, and Giuseppe’s shoes are full of bling.” She fingers a glittery yellow strappy heel. “These are so insane. I want to take these home—you don’t understand! If you wore these with some shorts and, like, a white tank top and yellow bracelets, oh!” She moves on to a pair of flat sandals with a jeweled Eiffel Tower charm. “Look, London! I love those!”

Tweet This Post