By Stephen Robb, Miami Times Staff Writer
Maybe there is no place like home. Just ask Miami native Amitria Fanae’.
She spent her childhood studying at Charles R. Drew K-8 Center, training at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, and dancing at the Inner City Children’s Touring Dance Company under Florene Nichols. She spent her teen years at Booker T. Washington Senior High School, where she played Dorothy in their production of “The Wiz.”
She has since performed nationally in productions of “Dream Girls,” “The Color Purple,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Godspell.”
Now she’s coming back to Miami — and to “The Wiz,” this time playing the Good Witch Addapearle in the South Florida premiere of the show’s most recent revival. The limited engagement will take place Oct. 7-12 at the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Ziff Ballet Opera House, celebrating 50 years since the musical first opened on Broadway in 1975.
“I am so excited to come home,” Fanae’ said. “I am so excited for Miami-Dade County and Broward County to see the yellow brick road like they’ve never seen it before.”
With “The Wizard of Oz” having been first published in 1900, Fanae’ has theories on how the story has stood the test of time:
“It’s a magical story. It transcends through generations and time, and everyone can relate to it. There’s a story and a lesson for everyone, zero to 100.”
She sees herself carrying on a tradition.
“With everyone who’s done it before me, it’s an honor to come behind them and add to the legacy of Addapearle with the show ‘The Wiz.’
“There’s so much for the audience to take away. But the thing that resonates with me most — that I think a lot of people can grasp — is that everything that you need to succeed is inside of you. You don’t have to look far for it. It’s waiting for you to unlock it and unleash it.”
A little heart
Another local performing in the show is Fort Lauderdale native Kameren Whigham, who is part of the ensemble.
After attending Parkway Middle School of the Arts and the Dillard Center for the Arts, Whigham furthered his education at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he performed with the nonprofit PhilaDanco.
Up until now, Whigham has been entertaining international audiences on cruise ships, but his trip to Oz has changed things for him.
“I always knew that I wanted to perform; I wanted to inspire. What I enjoy is inspiring people, but I did not think that my journey was going to lead me up to this,” Whigham said. “This is my first national tour, and I’ve enjoyed every experience along the way.”
Now coming back to Florida, he’s looking forward to performing for his family, teachers and mentors.
“Everybody is waiting to see me perform,” Whigham said. “This is the first time ever that I’ve been working at this caliber, and then to also be able to come back to my hometown and my family and friends. I’m so excited.”
Whigham grew up watching the film version of “The Wiz,” starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
“I connected immediately with the storyline, with the characters, with the movie itself,” Whigham said. “So I felt like it holds so much within it already, which is why it continues to come back.”
Whigham describes audience reaction to the show as “crazy.”
“We just did a matinee show for kids for the very first time and the reaction here has been through the roof. The kids scream before the curtain even comes up,” he said.
The ensemble
“It’s nice to receive that energy because it helps me do my job. The challenging part of it is that we do nine shows a week, sometimes eight,” Whigham added. “Sometimes I’m tired, but the minute I step on stage and I hear the reaction from the audience and hearing the kids scream and yell, that pushes me and that reaffirms me that I’m getting ready to inspire someone else.”
A lot of courage
If the audience will truly see the yellow brick road as it has never seen it before, credit might be due to choreographer Jaquel Knight.
Knight was the choreographer behind the video for Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” and has worked with Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B and other music giants.
You’d think nothing could shake the tower of cool who choreographed Shakira’s Super Bowl appearance. Yet that tower collapsed when he found out he was chosen to direct the Broadway revival of “The Wiz.”
“I screamed. I literally screamed. That was the only thing that I could do,” Knight admitted. “I screamed, I ran around the house, screamed some more, rolled across the floor, screamed some more, I was in such disbelief.”
Then came the hard work.
“The first step was all about reminding yourself what ‘The Wiz’ is and how much it meant to people,” Knight said. “I did research, went back out, found clips of the Broadway show. I watched the film over and over. I watched all the reiterations of ‘The Wiz.’ And then you just talk to people, just asking people, ‘What was their favorite moments like?’
“And everyone has a piece of ‘The Wiz’ that they feel belongs to them.”
Knight’s first exposure to “The Wiz” was also through the Diana Ross film.
“It was something about Louis Johnson’s choreography in the film that was captivating and has helped me all these years,” Knight said. “To see all those Black bodies coming on the screen so filled with so much joy and pride really inspired me and changed my trajectory as a choreographer.”
For his own approach, Knight linked the choreography with Dorothy’s development as a character.
“Every point of her journey has a different page of who we are … and speaks to where we’ve come from, where we’re going. So that was a really fun part,” Knight said. “As the story and the journey of Dorothy develops, the story of the dance and movement and who we are as Black people and Black culture also develops and progresses along.”
Knight said his favorite part of the musical would be the Emerald City sequence.
“It really smacks you across the face with the complexity and the range of dance. It’s styles of dance that builds. It’s really a number that’s really beautiful, and you understand the range of who we are as people,” Knight said.
As for what keeps the story relevant after 125 years, here’s Knight’s guess:
“We all need the story of being able to feel we’re alone and need to go out and find a tribe and find friends and find those who relate to us, even though they may not look like us or they may not come from where we come from.
“They may not have grown up how we’ve grown up, but somewhere along our journey we’ve crossed paths and have been able to inspire and push and motivate each other to continue going again, to continue to do great and continue to be,” Knight said. “So I feel that story in itself is one that cannot get old, and it’s probably one that we need now more than we have before. ”To purchase tickets to “The Wiz,” visit arshtcenter.org
