They say the neon lights are bright there. Some Spartans undergrads are shining brightly, too.
Dasia Amos, a huge Michael Jackson fan, is helping tell his life story in “MJ: The Musical” at the Neil Simon Theatre.
Part of the ensemble, she also has a speaking role as Suzanna de Passe, the Motown executive who discovered The Jackson 5.
How did she get this role? Last spring, she submitted an audition video through “Playbill” dancing to Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” After finals at UNCG, Amos got an email asking if she could rush to New York for an in-person audition. She got called back for another one. She earned a spot as a permanent swing in the show, but she needed to be in New York in three days. She moved in with a Spartan in Brooklyn and learned the entire musical in two weeks. “It was insane, beautiful, and crazy,” she says of her debut.
Avilon Tate is easing on down the yellow brick road in “The Wiz.” The show opened on Broadway March 29, after a national tour.
“It’s a fun story and being on stage, singing the songs, dancing to them, it fills you up for sure,” says Tate, who is part of the ensemble and an understudy for the Tin Man. The original Broadway production of “The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical Wonderful Wizard of Oz” premiered in 1975 and is a retelling of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” told through the lens of Black culture. “We are just living our best lives out on stage, being able to perform this iconic show.”
Just as UNCG helps students reach the Broadway stage, a partnership between the University and Well-Spring, A Life Plan Community, is bringing Broadway to Greensboro.
The program invites Broadway actors to Well-Spring for a performance and masterclass with UNCG students. UNCG first- and third-year students then return the favor by performing for residents at Well-Spring’s Virginia Somerville Sutton Theatre. The program is funded by the Sue and John Irvin Foundation. John Irvin’s mother was one of the first students to receive a BA in music from the North Carolina College for Women (now UNCG).