Rehearsal video with LaChanze and Ashanti (The Wiz)

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 1:57am

LaChanze....wow!



http://www.broadway.com/Broadway-com-VIDEO-ON-DEMAND-In-Rehearsal/broadway_information_html/5015933

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 2:02am

LaChanze sounds fantastic as usual.

And it looks like Ashanti is taking this really seriously. She seems to be hoofing it up there just as well as anyone else...I hope she surprises us all.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 3:45am

LaChanze absolutely knocks "If You Believe" out of the park. It's so nice to hear her belting again!

And Ashanti seems to be working very hard. I'm curious to see how her performance turns out.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 4:22am

Oh my lord, LaChanze's rendition of that was just... inspirational? Is that too much, too soon?

[colorandlight2]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 4:51am

LaChanze sounded amazing. Any wrong done by Ashanti will be corrected by LaChanze's crystal clear belt!

[JBSinger]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 9:01am

If they can keep the cast (full of TV stars and strong theatre folks), I bet this is poised for Bway transfer.

Looks like a good time to me.
I just hope Ashanti can act.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 9:05am

LaChanze sounds good, and I really liked the southern accent (Which will hopefully make an appearance). I hope she can be bothered to show up.

Ashanti looks...ok. I think she's giving Dorothy a little too much of an adult spin, that may just be the choreo though.

Also, that is a TON of Yellow Brick Road dancers.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 9:28am

Well, if nothing else, the $25 I spent on a ticket to this will be worth it just to hear LaChanze sing that song live. Thrilling!

[Bar none]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 9:36am

I'm lovin' "Ease on Down the Road." Even though they're going to be using the original Broadway orchestrations, it appears they've combined the background vocals from both the movie ("get 'em up, ease on down") and the play ("doot doot dooooot").

@ husk charmer:
It looks to me like the Yellow Brick Road has expanded from four dancers to six or seven. The six with the microphones appear to be the "pit singers." In the original production, there were four. I'm guessing they'll be performing onstage since the orchestra will be onstage, too.

Updated On: 5/29/09 at 09:36 AM

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 9:39am

Bar none-
I forgot about the pit singers. That makes a bit more sense then.

I noticed the "Get em up, ease on down" but just assumed it was something left off the cast recording.

I think I'd like the choreo better, if the camera was farther away...as is it's a bit too close for me to get much of a feel. I'm glad they aren't going over the top on the silver shoes by making them into something more than your basic character shoe, hopefully it means Ashanti won't be dressed like a skank.

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 9:41am

Oh WOW i can not wait for this. Yay Alex Lacamoire!

[Bar none]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 9:48am

Husk_charmer, I was thinking the same thing about the tight camera work on the choreography. I guess it will just give me something more to look forward to.

As far as the "get 'em up, ease on down" goes, I heard a live recording of the original cast and that was never used in the song the three times they performed it in the show.

[Cholly]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 10:01am

Holy cow LaChanze!

And ugh Ashanti. She makes no sense to me. Why didn't they just hire Anika Noni Rose like everyone wanted?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 10:01am

OMG her southern accent is terrible. No LaChanze, no.

[yeah]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 10:22am

I love LaChanze.

Ashanti is useless.

Umm, they couldn't hire at least one white ensemble member? What happened to color blind casting??

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 10:27am

Why didn't they just hire Anika Noni Rose like everyone wanted?

Because Anika Noni Rose would sell about a dozen tickets. This is called the Summer of Stars. Ashanti is a multi-platinum recording artist with a much larger following than Aniki Noni Rose.

Who is this "everyone" anyway?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 10:28am

LaChanze is absolutely gorgeous and sounds amazing.

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 10:33am

You don't need white people in The Wiz. Do your Broadway homework. LOL (and I'm white!)

[yeah]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 10:44am

But the white family in "August: Osage County" needs a black mother?? :-P

[Dolly_Levi]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 12:12pm

Christian White sounded great as the Scarecrow.
I wanna see the Lion too.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 1:48pm

Ashanti looked great. LaChanze sounded gorgeous. I really hope this transfers to Broadway so they can record this on an album.

[iamchanging9]

Posted: 5/29/09 at 2:01pm

ashanti needs to stop looking at her feet while she's dancing.

i don't think lachanze sounds that amazing, but then again i'm not a lachanze fan.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:26am

Anyone know the peer 2 peer code for this?

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 12:42am

I cannot believe LaChanze is turning 48 this year.

She doesn't look a day over 30!

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 5/30/09 at 7:54am

Ashanti definitely looks better here than the first video of her singing "Home" I hope she improves and can handle the role. I noticed her looking down at her feet the whole time which annoyed the hell out of me.

LaChanze looks great and I can't wait to see her.


I wish Sasha Allen was cast instead of Ashanti.