CLEVELAND — Phillip Johnson Richardson, 27, is heading to Broadway. The North Carolina native is playing the Tinman in “The Wiz,” a spinoff of the original “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” The Broadway musical is getting a reboot nearly 50 years after it first debuted.
“I'm very excited. I don't want to show it but I'm very excited about it,” Richardson said. “This show is so, so crazy and so good. And it's, the legacy is so, it's so deep. Like the fact that like I get to be part of it is insane.”
Richardson has been acting since 12 years old and gives thanks to the Buckeye State for his success. He graduated from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati in 2018.
“It is a form of a second or third home where I learned a lot about myself, I learned a lot about who I am as a person and as a performer,” Richardson said.
Only a few years professionally in the industry and Richardson’s already interacting with some big names. Kandi Burruss, a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and her husband Todd Tucker are producers of the show.
“People have seen all different versions of The Wiz, I mean, you've seen the version that was on Broadway back in the day, you've seen the version that went to television, you've seen the movie version, but now we have put a new twist on The Wiz,” Burruss said. “We have an all-new amazing cast.”
This is Burruss’ third production that she’s taking to Broadway as a producer, but her first time producing a musical that’s going to Broadway.
“Deborah Cox, who I've always been a huge fan of, she is Glinda the Good Witch. We have Avery Wilson playing the Scarecrow,” Burruss said. “We got the top of the top people in every position to make sure that we got this right for you. It's one of those shows you can bring the whole family to, which is really cool.”
The show is traveling to 13 cities across the country this fall, including Cleveland, before opening on Broadway with a limited run next year.
“It's so important for us to have productions like this because people of color, we really don't get a chance to get these large budgets and be able to just kind of show, like, show out,” Tucker said. “It's going to be an emotional roller coaster. You want to cry, you want to sing, you want to dance. And that's why it's important because, like, we have a lot to show. And The Wiz is going to show it.”
The 1975 Broadway production of The Wiz won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It was an early example of Broadway's mainstream acceptance of works with an all-Black cast. Something Brian Moreland, the lead producer of the show, said is still important to celebrate today.
“For Black people, this particular musical was the first time that an African American person won a Tony Award for direction, a Tony for costume design, a Tony for Best Musical, a Tony for choreography, first time ever,” Moreland said. “But the show itself, it's the first time that a lot of Black people saw themselves in fantasy, saw themselves in joy. There's no strife, there's no struggle. It's just pure joy.”
Cleveland is hosting the show for nearly three weeks from Oct. 3-22, which is one of the longest show stints in the 13-city tour. The production team said it's an extended chance for people to see a beautiful production of Black excellence and Black joy.
For tickets, visit here.