The Wiz Quotes

My earliest influence was Quincy Jones. I thought 'The Wiz' soundtrack was the most amazing thing I'd ever heard. It was my first record and you had Michael Jackson, Ted Ross, Nipsey Russell and Diana Ross on it. I even took it to show and tell in third grade!

I grew up being a dancer, so I was always doing some sort of dance number, like the Tornado in 'The Wiz.'

When I went to college, I wasn't really happy at there, and I really wanted to come home. Mind you, I auditioned for 'The Wiz' the day after I came home from college. I wanted to come home and try to go to a new school.

I started singing in my church choir, and then when I got to middle school, I had the coolest musical theatre director, and we actually did 'The Wiz' in seventh grade, and I was Addaperle, and my grandma was like, 'Why didn't you audition for Dorothy?' But I was too nervous for that.

My generation probably didn't connect with 'The Wiz' the way that other generations did.

If I'm not working after 'The Wiz,' I am definitely planning on going back to college in New Jersey.

I was one of the ones in my generation who actually did connect with 'The Wiz,' even though it was not on Broadway or the movie wasn't big anymore by the time I was of age to notice. But I was into it in middle school.

People think, 'Oh, you're doing 'The Wiz' because 'Empire' is such a big hit.' The truth is, staging this musical has been a dream of ours since the '90s, but the rights were tied up. It's just coincidental that, this year, when we were choosing a new musical, the rights were cleared.