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MABEL KING (Evillene) spent two years on Broadway as Ernestine in the Pearl Bailey company of Hello Dolly! and most recently starred as Mrs. Bowser in both the Broadway and film version of Melvin Van Peebles Don't Play Us Cheap. This past season she was chosen to star in the Theatre National Populaire (TNP) classic La Dispute de Marivaux, directed by Patrice Chereau, which was performed in French and followed its gala Paris opening with an extensive tour throughout the major cities of France. Miss King played Maria in a national tour of Porgy and Bess, and has had an extensive career in films such as Cotton Comes to Harlem, Angel Levine, Lady Liberty, They Might Be Giants, Hot Rock, and Ganga and Hess, which is rapidly becoming an underground classic. Miss King started singing with her mother in a church choir at the age of four. ANDRE DE SHIELDS (Wizard) is a "boogie master" as well as an actor/singer. In the former capacity, he is choreographing Bette Middler's Harlettes at the Uris Theatre in New York. As an actor, he created the role of Xander the Unconquerable in the Organic Theatre's production of Warp in Chicago where the Drama Critics Circle voted him their Best Actor Award, and then went on with the production to Broadway. In Hair, Mr. De Shields played Hud and served as dance captain for the company, and his other credits include 2008 1/2 off-Broadway at the Truck and Warehouse Theatre, the role of Clorox in The Me Nobody Knows, the Doctor in the short-lived Rachel Lily Rosenbloom, and King of Egypt in the pre-Broadway tryout of Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He has just returned from Venezuela with La Mama's Jarboro Players having performed in and directed Thoughts, by Lamar Alford. Mr. De Shields is from Mars. TASHA THOMAS (Aunt Em) was born in Jeuntyn, Alaska, and knew at an early age that music would be an important part of her life. She sang, studied piano and clarinet and played the piano in her mother's church. Her professional career as a singer began with backup work at recording sessions and her work on commercials brought her to the attention of Merv Griffin, who signed her as the first artist on his new recording label and has since featured her performances on his television show. As an actress with a flair for comedy, she was featured in The Selling of The President. DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER (Glinda) makes her Broadway debut in The Wiz, following a career which has been highly concentrated around her first rate vocal abilities. As vocalist for the Thad Jones and Mel Lewis Orchestra for the past four and a half years, Miss Bridgewater had made countless numbers of recordings, and toured throughout the world to places like the Soviet Union, Japan, Europe and the Bahamas. While in Japan she also recorded her own solo album Trio Records, which will be released in this country later this year. 1972 and 1974 Downbeat Magazine's Critics Poll proclaimed Miss Bridgewater Vocalist of the Year, while Japan's Swing Journal made her Best Vocalist of 1973. That year, she was also chosen to sing the soundtrack and the title song from the movie Coffee. Miss Bridgewater has just won a Tony Award for her performance in this role. WILLIAM F. BROWN (Book) has been polishing his style for years as a humorist in many fields. He was represented on Broadway as the author of the comedy The Girl in the Freudian Slip, starring Alan Young and Marjorie Lord, and as a contributor to New Faces of 1968. He wrote the book for the off-Broadway hit, How to Steal An Election, starring Clifton Davis. His sketches and lyrics have appeared in many Julius Monk revues at Plaza 9 and Upstairs At The Downstairs; he has fashioned material for such night club performers as David Frost, Joan Rivers, Georgie Kaye and a host of others; and over 100 television credits include Love American Style, That Was the Week That Was, The Jackie Gleason Show and a number of Max Liebman Specials. In addition, Mr. Brown is the author of five books of humor, an illustrator for five others, a frequent contributor of articles to major magazines, and is the co-author and co-artist of the syndicated comic strip, Mixed Singles, which appears daily and Sunday in 175 papers. [[line]] [[advertisement]] Every night is opening night with the world's driest gin Fleischmann's [image - black and white photograph of Fleischmann's bottle and two martini glasses]] DISTILLED FROM AMERICAN GRAIN • 86 PROOF • THE FLEISCHMANN DISTILLING CORP., N.Y.C. [[/advertisement]] 30 [[end page]] [[start page]] CHARLIE SMALLS (Music and Lyrics). The Wiz marks Mr. Smalls debut as a composer on Broadway and he was honored with a Tony Award for Best Score. His incredible talent has already been recognized by artists such as Hugh Masekela, who recorded an instrumental composition of Mr. Smalls' and John Cassavettes, who not only used a Smalls' song in his film Faces, but asked Charlie to perform it as well. A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music with a classical background, Mr. Smalls served the usual musical apprenticeship after a sting with the Air Force Band, playing in Manhattan clubs and touring for gospel singer Esther Morrow with Harry Belafonte. Primarily a pianist, but proficient on other instruments as well, Mr. Smalls backed Hugh Masekela's group for a year and a half, leaving to form his own group, under contract to A&M Records. An actor and singer as well as a musician, Mr. Smalls' fondest memory is that at the age of 10, he was presented with his first piano, a gift form actress Tallulah Bankhead. TOM H. JOHN (Settings) began his professional career as a scenic artist in television, and he is to that industry as Rolls Royce is to cars-the finest. He has designed for television musical specials, dramatic specials and series, including the Streisand specials My Name is Barbara (Emmy Award), Color Me Barbra, Barbra in Central Park and Belle of 14th Street. His dramatic specials include Joseph Papp's Much Ado About Nothing (Emmy Award), The Crucible with Colleen Dewhurst and George C. Scott, Death of A Salesman and Of Mice and Men. For Broadway he designed the prescient Selling of A Persident, and George M, among others, and Bill Gunn's film, Ganja and Hess, which won the Cannes Foreign Film Award. Mr. John is also producer/designer, having served in that capacity for the New York Shakespeare Festival's Wedding Band with Ruby Dee and At The Drop of Another Hat, a CBS special starring Carol Burnett, Zero Mostel and Lucille Ball. THARON MUSSER (Lighting) has created the lighting for many Broadway productions including Follies, for which she won a Tony Award, Applause, Lion In Winter, J.B., Long Day's Journey Into Night, Mame, The Entertainer, The Good Doctor, Candide, The Sunshine Boys, and most recently A Little Night Music, Mack and Mabel and God's Favorite. Her repertory designing credits include the Phoenix Theatre, Jose Limon Dance Company, American Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Civic Opera, Mark Taper Forum and the Miami Opera Guild. HAROLD WHEELER (Orchestrations) has served in this capacity as well as that of conductor for the Broadway productions of Promises, Promises, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Aint Supposed to Die A Natural Death and Don't Play Us Cheap, in addition to handling the dance arrangements for Katharine Hepburn's Coco. His films credits as musical supervisor include Cotton Comes To Harlem, Fortune in Men's Eyes, The Bride and Don't Play Us Cheap. His television credits include George M, The Real American Music, the NY Shakespeare Festival production of Wedding Band, and a host of commercials. His most recent album credit, in addition to the cast recordings of the productions mentioned above, is that of this own orchestra for Gryphon Records, distributed by RCA which includes instrumental selections from The Wiz. CHARLES H. COLEMAN (Musical Direction and Vocal Arr.) was most recently the musical director for Melba Moore, and served in that capacity for the North American tour of The Who's Tommy. He has worked on Broadway as conductor for such shows as No, No, Nanette and Raisin, as musical director for Sarah Vaughn, and as a conductor for artists performing on all of the major television variety programs and in leading night clubs in Las Vegas. For a ten year period as a resident of Canada, Mr. Coleman was a musical director, composer, pianist and arranger for the CBC, performing in more than 3,000 radio and television shows, as well as serving as music editor for Crawley Films, Ltd., In 1963 he composed the score for a children's film, Sophocles The Hyena, for McGraw Hill Books. Married to Oberia, an ac- [[line]] [[boxed advertisement]] [[image - black and white picture of horse's head]] [[underline]] Our [[/underline]] show has a different ending every night. you can bet on it. [[image - black and white logo for Monticello Raceway]] MONTICELLO, NEW YORK [[/boxed advertisement]] 31