The first up this morning, something
both Angela and I are excited about,
and we just mentioned the 5th Ave
Theater is bringing the Wiz to
Seattle's audiences this November,
which is really just around the corner now.
And we've got breaking news here this
morning we get to announce who is going
to be playing the iconic lead role.
Please give a warm new day.
Welcome to Kataka corn,
who will be playing Dorothy?
This costume is amazing.
Thank you. I love it.
So how excited are you?
Ohh, I am beyond excited.
Like, I I'm just like, Oh my gosh,
I really want to just like,
get it started and get it going and
share it with as many people as possible.
I think that is amazing. Look at
this picture of you and Toto. Oh
my God, do you are you getting a lot
of time with the dog? How is that
working? So we haven't started with the dog.
This Toto is actually a Toto stand in.
His name is. Waffles and he was super sweet,
but yeah that was just for
pre production photo shoot.
And yeah I will get to start working
with our real Toto starting when
we begin rehearsals in October.
OK. So what is this meant to you
to to be part of this incredible
production that you know has had such,
you know, Diana Ross played Dorothy.
It's hard. Michael Jackson, scarecrow.
All the things. It's hard.
What do you how do you feel about this?
I I mean, it truly is an honor to
get to embody such an iconic role,
you know, starting with Stephanie
Mills and then Diana Ross.
And, yeah, I mean,
it truly is in honor to kind of lead
this beautiful community in this
show and to get to really embrace
black joy and black excellence.
So I'm very
excited. Let's talk
about that for a minute because I
grew up watching this and I remember
I never thought in my lifetime
I would see it on stage live.
And so when this was announced,
I told my daughters and we just
went bananas. We went absolutely
bananas. Like they are baking the Wiz,
they are making the wise, I
mean was, did you ever think
this would happen? And yeah,
I mean, how was your reaction when
you even heard they were doing
it? I I was really shocked because,
you know, they had just done their revival,
the Broadway. Survival.
And I was like, Oh my gosh.
Like the one and only chance.
Like, it was there and
it was gone really fast.
So yeah, I was really shocked that he
was even going to be coming to Seattle.
But Umm, yeah, I as soon as I heard
I was like, that's my show.
I need to be in that
right now. So
you're on YouTube singing home.
Yeah. I mean, a year ago you were.
And you had no idea this was going.
No idea. Yeah. Yeah.
And and one other question, if I may.
Comedy just lean into when you
talk about the significance of
this show because I never knew why.
Meant so much to me to have this,
this movie at the time, this musical.
Have you been able to reflect on
just the significance in that way?
I I have a little bit.
I think one of my concerns going in is
that with these different revivals,
they were taking a more modern twist to it,
and I felt that my my fear was that
it was lacking the integrity of
when it first came out in that era,
which was truly an era where
black people embraced.
Being black and I was afraid
with it being modernized,
we were losing that because we're in it.
We are in an era where we
judge people's identities,
including our own,
and we we don't embrace it
as much as we could.
So I I think that's why I'm also
really excited to bring it back,
embracing that era,
that 70s era with, you know,
just that funk and groove
and community and yeah,
I I think it's really going to
be something amazing to share.
Having a good shout out to Quincy
Jones. Yeah. He has some Seattle
connections. I didn't know that
until you told me this morning.
Yeah. Yeah. He went to Garfield High
School and he was is behind this music.
So this is good music.
We've never seen it. This is good.
Uh, you have to see it.
I was, we were talking about this.
I always feel like it's a Thanksgiving
movie and so I'm excited that
it's coming out in November.
What do you hope audiences
take away from this?
Oh my goodness, I I hope they they
leave the theater feeling joyous and
wanting to extend to other people in
their communities with grace and.
Yeah. That they just want to share.
I just want people to want to share.
They love that.
Yeah. It made me think.
When you talk about joy,
there's a song in the show.
Can you feel a brand new day?
Hmm. And when can we not
use a brand new day? Yeah,
yeah. Yeah. Always. Always.
Always. I was just thinking,
you know, my son, my daughter has
seen the Wiz because I actually,
I feel like the Wizard of Oz
is terrifying for children.
So my daughter has seen the wind.
But I think I'm not gonna
let him see the movie. I'm.
We're gonna only make sure we
come and see it on stage because
I think that is such a crazy,
immersive experience.
You know,
this is, I
want everyone to know, like,
this is a rare moment. I mean, I'm,
you know, 40 years old and have
not seen this show live in person.
And the music is just so
good to your point, kataka.
It's joyous, it's lively,
it's celebratory.
It's just it's beautiful.
And I'm so excited for you.
Thank you so much. Thank you. We are
so happy and we can't wait to see you.
And I hope everyone goes sees the show the.
5th AVEs rendition of the Whizzle run
from November 19th through December 23rd,
so that's not a lot of time,
so get your tickets now.
But in the meantime we have one
lucky new day viewer who is going
to win four tickets to the show.
Enter to win, simply head to
the new day Facebook page and
comment on the contest post.
We will notify you if you
won and the next few days.
And by the way, can I just add,
we're also going to be giving
away tickets on evening on
Tuesday, so another chance,
two chances. Two weeks?
Yep. You gotta watch twin.