Video: Ease on Down the Yellow Carpet on Opening Night of THE WIZ

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

It's time to once again ease on down the road because the beloved musical The Whiz is back on Broadway

and we're here at opening night on the yellow carpet to celebrate with the company

Oh my gosh, I feel amazing, excited, but also nervous, so many things

I think what's made it special is the cast and the team

Everyone has been so lovely and kind and just supportive of everything and

the journey. So it's been wonderful. To play Dorothy is everything. I mean before I was working

at a retail store. I didn't even know. I had no idea what was coming next, but I had made a

vision board that sent home about 10 times. Didn't realize it. And it wasn't until like a few

days ago that I found that vision board. And I was like, wow. So everything is meant to be

Welcome back to Broadway. How does it feel? It feels wonderful. You know, now I, now I consider

to myself a Broadway vet. Now, now. Wayne, what's made this so special for you with working on the Wiz

Because this is a moment. This is a moment that it separates

it from being a job, from being an opportunity. It's not just a show

for me. It was like an intentional. I want to be part of this moment

where I can celebrate and uplift Shelley Williams. I want to be able to uplift Amber Ruffin

I want to be able to uplift a timeless story that celebrates the

diaspora and black culture and I want to be in it. I could have been doing catering for all I care

I just wanted to be here It really really touching to be here to be in this show to bring this show to a whole new audience We have been touring We done 13 cities and to land here on Broadway and to be able to show this incredible show to the audience is really I think groundbreaking for Broadway

It's very, very important for Broadway to see a show like this

And I love that it's celebrating the Black Diaspora. Celebrating black music, black culture with our lens

And it's beautiful. It's a really fun show. I am thrilled. I feel crazy

I feel like love is overflowing. I feel an abundance of joy

I'm excited to give this show to New York City. I'm excited that our show is frozen

The number of changes. I'm excited to get out of this corset and put on that hot costume that I have to put on

I'm excited. What's made it special is that every arm. artists that you see on the stage performing this piece every night

They are stellar human beings. Their talent is top tier. They are lovely people

And I enjoy getting to create and laugh and play with them every night

Their talent is just mind-blowing. So to play with them is just the best experience ever, the best thing about this

It feels amazing. Honestly, a dream, even though I'd never even dreamed I would be here

Because I was doing music as an artist, which people know me. but to walk into the theater for the first time ever because I've never done theater. I've

never obviously done Broadway. It's a new experience. It's a new push. It's a new journey

I mean for honestly the smaller part of it doing eight shows in six days with Only Monday off is a feat in itself and that I have made it through six months of that And a couple weeks of previews I am proud of myself But I also took it upon myself to walk into the space and be a sponge working on the job

learning from the people that are with me, my peers and my castmates. They're amazing and incredible

This show has so much good energy and just a lot of joy that is uncontainable

And it's not just about being black joy, though we are a all-black cast. It is for everyone

And that is a joy in itself. What's made this so special for you with working on The Wiz

The Wiz is a show that I don't even know a world without

It is the reason I do what I do. So to be able to do this in the opening it's on Broadway, the first revival in like however many years, it is crazy

You know what I'm saying? I feel like, oh my God, like sometimes I feel the pressure, and I'm like, relax, bro, it's going to be okay

It is so beloved because it's the first time that you get to see black people being black people on stage in a movie, you know what I'm saying

and doing what we do, and like, it just no really talks about, oh, yeah, they're black. Like, no, that's just kind of like what we do

It's kind of how we are anyway. And yeah, and it's our music. It's our culture

It's everything that we infuse until American culture. It's crazy. Oh, you know what, Richie, it's a combination of a many thing

Yes. Excited. A little bit overwhelmed. A little sleepy. It's all the things

All the things. It's really important because, you know, I wouldn't be here if the wisdom didn't influence me. Right

And so in 50 more years, there'll be some. somebody else here in my blaze who was influenced by what we're doing right now

So it's such a beautiful cycle and it's a huge responsibility, honor, and an honor

I am absolutely excited to actually go from the tour to Broadway seeing all the audiences and getting that buildup actually is making this anticipation worse

We're going through the out of the country and watching the audience's members

sort of interact with the show as we tweak it and change it a little bit. It was actually wonderful to see them

Now, LA, that was a big blowout house. So that actually set us up for this opening tonight

So we're so excited. Tonight's really special because I can't believe that anyone let me anywhere near this friggin' show

This show is a dream. It's really changed my life, this show

And the fact that I get to touch it, to help it

to meet the original writer, to any of it, is the dream

It's the dream. Right now, it seems like we're awake. We're not

We're in the dream. It feels surreal, you know, like this isn't life

What is life, right? What is life? You know, but I'm totally feeling it's a brand new day

You know, here we are. It's a brand new day. It's a new world. It's a new space

And, you know, we're taking a head on, you know, and we're starting with the Wiz. What's made this so special for you? You worked on so many incredible projects

What's made it so special? You know, I think it's just being a part of a legacy that has changed the lives of so many people I look up to

I admire, I work with. You know, the Wiz, I think single-handedly is probably the most important

piece of art in black culture, you know. So to be able to continue its legacy, you know

add a little joy to it, a little love, a little funk, a little soul

you know, I'm grateful to be able to do my part and say hello, I'm here