Recording artist Deborah Cox and Chicago-based actress and singer Melody A. Betts have joined the Broadway-bound cast of The Wiz, with Cox taking the role of Glinda and Betts cast as Aunt Em and Evillene.
Cox and Betts join the previously announced cast of Wayne Brady as the Wiz, and Kyle Ramar Freeman as the Lion, Phillip Johnson Richardson as the Tinman, and Avery Wilson as the Scarecrow. Additional casting will be announced in the coming weeks.
The casting of Cox and Betts was announced today by producers Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland and Ambassador Theatre Group. The Wiz revival will begin a national tour this fall with a planned arrival on Broadway in spring of 2024.
Cox has reached the music charts with six top 20 Billboard R&B singles and 13 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play Chart, including the hits “Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here” and “We Can’t Be Friends.” Screen credits include BET’s First Wives Club and the HBO MAX series Station Eleven. She’s currently working on her seventh studio album.
Betts was last seen as Chantel in the World Premiere of The Factotum at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Other stage credits include Fiddler on The Roof, Ragtime, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Boys from Syracuse, Seussical the Musical, ELF and Waitress the Musical, among numerous others. On TV, she appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar Live, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire and others.
The Wiz revival, with new material by Amber Ruffin, will launch its national tour in Baltimore this fall.
