PHILIPSBURG--INDISU Dance Theater of St. Maarten’s new show “The Wiz” premiered Friday evening at Philipsburg Cultural and Community Centre.
The dance school has worked exactly three months on this 40th anniversary remake of the original musical with a cast of 40 dancers from its company and junior elite company.
The show was directed and choreographed by INDISU’s Directors Susha Hien and Ihndhira Marlin with creative input from Kishana Vlaun, Audie Janse, Giovanni Webster and Naomi Adriana in the scenes their characters are featured in.
INDISU’s eclectic production contains upbeat and classic jazz choreography and lots of funky hip hop, some Latin and lyrical dancing. The musical The Wiz is an urbanised retelling of L. Frank Baum’s classic 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of modern African-American culture. The 1975 Broadway production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The musical was an early example of Broadway’s mainstream acceptance of works with an all-black cast. The musical has had revivals in New York; London, England; San Diego, California; and the Netherlands, and a limited-run revival was presented by Encores! At New York City Center in June 2009. A big-budget film adaptation of the same name was released in 1978 and has since become a cult classic. A live television production of the stage show, The Wiz Live! was broadcast on NBC on December 3, 2015, with an encore presentation on December 19 of the same year.
INIDISU’s version of The Wiz will also be performed on Saturday, April 15, at 8:00pm, and on Sunday, April 16, at 4:00pm.
Tickets are available at Dance Theater of St. Maarten at Megaplex Studios, Van Dorp bookstores and EBS on Bush Road.
