Molloy University graduate Nichelle Lewis makes her debut on Broadway

Actress Nichelle Lewis, a graduate of Molloy University in Rockville Centre, eased on down the yellow brick road as Dorothy Gale in the new Broadway production of “The Wiz.”

Lewis, 24, said she was busy working on another production in Ohio last summer when she got a call asking if she would fly to New York City to audition. She said that she felt uncharacteristically at ease during the tryouts, as she went up to perform “Soon As I Get Home,” “Be a Lion,” and “Home” in front of a team of producers.

“I’m always usually shaking and am so stressed that I can throw up,” Lewis said. “But I actually felt so comfortable singing those songs.”

Following the audition, she began gathering her things and was headed to the door to leave when the casting director stopped her and started asking her questions about where she was from and what she was currently working on.

“She asked me to stay for a little while longer,” Lewis said. “I was just so in awe because I was like ‘What does this mean for me?’”

She later returned to Ohio, completely unaware that she was about to book the role of a lifetime.

“I remember when I got the call I was about to go to sleep because I thought that I completely tore up that audition. I thought it was so bad and I was so embarrassed,” Lewis said. “Then my agent called me and was like, ‘Girl, get up because you booked it!’ And I was screaming. I thought that they meant I had booked the understudy. I didn’t think they meant the lead role. It didn’t hit me for some reason. But it was the most amazing thing ever.”

The role has garnered great clout through the years. It is most often associated with Judy Garland, for her portrayal in the 1939 motion picture, “The Wizard of Oz,” considered one of the most watched films in cinematic history. It was also celebrated for its pioneering use of Technicolor and special effects.

The story, originally written as a children’s book by L. Frank Baum in 1900, was adapted by William F. Brown in 1974, as a contemporary retelling featuring an all-Black cast of characters. The 1975 Broadway production of “The Wiz” was a tremendous hit, netting seven Tony Awards, and launched the career of acclaimed actress and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Stephanie Mills.

Music icon Diana Ross stepped in to play the role in the 1978 big-budget film adaptation, directed by Sidney Lumet. Dorothy has also been portrayed both on stage and in film by many accomplished actresses and musicians including Liza Minnelli, Jewel, Ashanti, Zooey Deschanel, Kari Wahlgren, Maya Rudolph and countless others.

“I think in all of the renditions of this show, there has always been so much love between each of the characters and there has always been so much learning and growing together,” Lewis said. “But I think in this production … we have an extra special bond because we’re all young and we’re all trying to navigate a world that might not feel so accepting to us in the moment. You know when you’re young trying to navigate the world, it is a whole different perspective than when you’re a little bit older and you’ve had some time to figure it out.

Lewis, a Virginia native, attributes much of her success to Molloy’s Collaborative Arts Program 21, or CAP21, a professional musical theater training conservatory that helps aspiring actors and actresses hone their craft.

“I think CAP21 played a huge part in my acting career because I don’t know if I would have been in New York City without having that program to bring me here,” Lewis said. “I had never really been in musical theater and never really saw myself pursuing that. One day, I thought to myself, maybe I could do this as a stepping stone for my career, but I never thought I would be in musical theater, leading a show.”

But that is exactly what happened.

The CAP21 program at Molloy started in 2014. Before that, it was associated with NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Having graduated from the program in 2021, Lewis is now the first Molloy University alum in the program’s 10-year history to get her big break on Broadway.

“I chose (to join the program) not realizing all that it would entail,” she said. “But I feel like it taught me so much about myself and how strong a person can be. The musical theater industry is not easy, but if you can do this, you really truly can do anything. There’s just so many things that I got from that school that I use to this day and although it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, it’s probably a good thing.”

If there is one bit of advice Lewis hopes to impart to students in the CAP21 program it is to keep going. “Keep your head up and remember that it gets better,” she said. “Everything you’re doing right now is going to prepare you for something so much bigger and so much more exciting and you’re going to do great things.”

“The Wiz” premiered April 17 at the Marquis Theatre. Directed by Schele Williams, the performance features Canadian singer-songwriter Deborah Cox as Glinda, Kyle Ramar Freeman as the Lion, Phillip Johnson Richardson as the Tinman, Avery Wilson as the Scarecrow and Wayne Brady as The Wiz.

“Opening night was so much fun. I’ve always dreamed of having a big night like that,” Lewis said. “I feel like me and my co-stars are so close. I really love every single one of my cast members. I tell them all the time. I’m sure they’re tired of me saying it, but I love them so much and I feel like none of us get intimidated by the other person because we’re all so talented in our own ways and you can’t really compare the two.”

Be sure to catch “The Wiz” now on Broadway. Tickets start at $79.95 for Mezzanine and $110.75 for Orchestra seats. For box office details and more information visit WizMusical.com.