Wicked Wizard Switch!
will switch places with
from August 30-September 4.
WOW!!!!
Ok, now I know a lot of you, ok maybe all, will have no idea who either one of those people is...so let me explain!
Ben Vereen, who is currently playing the Wizard on Broadway, will take to the Chicago stage from August 30-September 4 and Gene Weygandt, who is the Wizard in Chicago, will go perform on Broadway for him!
The reason for this is Ben Vereen asked the producers if they could do that because he has an ailing relative in Chicago he'd like to be closer to. First of all...aaaawwww, how nice is that of the producers!? Second of all...HOLY COW! I wish I was single and had money...I would be in Chicago like THAT!
It's Ben Vereen folks! Amazing, world-renowned Broadway and television actor. Zoobilee Zoo anyone?! He's Mayor Ben! (A Zoobile Zoo post will come pretty soon here, I have some funny stories).
Gene Weygandt, who we saw, is my favorite Wizard ever, and I've heard them all so far. Better than what I've heard of Ben Vereen, but the fact still remains that it's Ben friggin' Vereen!
Here's his bio:
Triple-threat Vereen has appeared on Broadway in I'm Not Rappaport (his straight play debut), Fosse (a performance which was taped for DVD), Jelly's Last Jam, Sweet Charity, Hair, Grind, Jesus Christ Superstar and Pippin. For the latter show, also featuring a score by Schwartz, Vereen won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Actor in the Musical in 1973. He has also appeared as The Ghost of Christmas Present in the Madison Square Garden production of A Christmas Carol, and film and TV credits include Funny Lady, "Roots," All That Jazz, and "Zoobilee Zoo."
I am SO jealous of those who get to see him in Chicago! Wow!
