Emmy-Winning Super Bowl Halftime Music Director Adam Blackstone Joins Broadway-Bound ‘The Wiz’ Creative Team

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Adam Blackstone, who won a 2022 Emmy Award for his music direction of the memorable hip-hop Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show featuring Dr.

Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and others, has joined the creative team of the Broadway-bound musical revival of The Wiz. Blackstone has signed on as Dance Music Arranger, a position that reunites him with frequent collaborator JaQuel Knight, the show’s choreographer. (Blackstone joins the production with his associate Terence Vaughn.) In a statement, Blackstone said the new collaboration with Knight will allow the two to “explore our own interpretation for a revival of this masterpiece.” The announcement was made by producers Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland, Ambassador Theatre Group, Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker.

The Wiz will launch a national tour on September 23 in Baltimore before heading to Broadway, with Wayne Brady in the title role, for a limited engagement later in spring 2024. “Joining The Wiz‘s creative team has been a very surreal moment,” Blackstone said. “I remember watching the film on VHS daily for years, wondering how it sounded so incredible, how MJ transformed into the Scarecrow, and the score and orchestrations truly told a story all of its own. “Fast forward to today,” Blackstone continued, “I get to musically partner with Terence Vaughn and reunite with my brother, super choreographer and creative director JaQuel Knight…I am excited and look forward to this body of work changing lives, just like it did for me in the ’80s.” Said Knight, “With over a decade of working beside each other on some of the biggest stages in the world, I’m so honored to have him and his team by my side on this journey to Broadway.