The Wiz

JaQuel Knight is a director, creative director, entrepreneur and critically acclaimed, award-winning choreographer known for creating some of the most memorable moments in dance and entertainment history. His rise to global recognition came at the age of 18, when he created the choreography for Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).” As a choreographer, JaQuel has lent his creative expertise to projects such as Beyoncé’s Black Is King film and Homecoming documentary for Netflix; the Shakira Super Bowl Halftime performance with Jennifer Lopez; and Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” video. Additionally, he has worked with artists like Marshmello, Cher, Britney Spears, The Chicks, Miley Cyrus, Pink, Zara Larsson, Victoria Monét, Ben Platt, Kanye West, Pharrell, Diddy, N*E*R*D, and Big Sean. As a director, JaQuel has worked on projects for Megan Thee Stallion, Pharrell, Chance the Rapper, Zara Larsson, Muni Long, and more. JaQuel served as creative director and choreographer for all things Megan Thee Stallion in 2020, and Diddy this past year, and is gearing up to direct his first feature film. In 2013, JaQuel launched his own production company, J.K. Creatives, Inc, which oversees artists, songwriters, and producers, and produces music videos & short films. J.K. Creatives houses its own media department, where JaQuel creates and develops content for TV, film, and digital, from scripted features to non-scripted competitions and series. He also operates his eponymous non-profit organization, The JaQuel Knight Foundation, targeting community focused initiatives aimed to build, uplift and inspire the next generation of artists. He is recognized as the first pop/hip-hop commercial choreographer to copyright his choreography with “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” and has launched Knight Choreography and Music Publishing where he and his manager work to ensure that choreographers and songwriters receive royalties for their compositions.

Hannah Beachler (Scenic Design) is a renowned prolific production designer with an affinity for evocative designs and visuals as she crafts unique emotional landscapes for every story she touches. Multi-hyphenate global icon, Beyoncé called on Beachler to be the production designer for her musical film Black Is King, mega successful OTRII Tour and her concept album Lemonade.

Beachler made history as the first African American to be nominated for and win an Academy Award for her work on Marvel’s Black Panther, directed by frequent collaborator Ryan Coogler. Black Panther box office receipts grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide. She returned for its highly anticipated sequel, Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Beachler is the first ever female production designer of a Marvel film franchise.

She previously collaborated with Coogler on Creed, the spinoff from the Rocky film series starring Sylvester Stallone and his directorial debut Fruitvale Station starring Michael B. Jordan, the Sundance Film Festival winner of The Grand Jury and Audience Award. The film also won the Prix de L’Avenir in the Un Certain Regard competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Director Barry Jenkins chose Beachler to design the production sets for his Best Picture Oscar-winning film Moonlight.

Her many credits also include Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move, Todd Haynes’ docu-narrative feature film Dark Waters and The Collaboration directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, which she designed both the feature film and the play at London’s Young Vic. Beachler grew up in Centerville, Ohio, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati where she studied fashion design. She also attended Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, where she studied film. She lives in New Orleans.

Sharen Davis (Costume Design) is an Emmy Award-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated costume designer whose discerning eye for detail has created some of the most memorable costumes in film and television. She received her Emmy Award in the Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costume category for her work on HBO’s critically acclaimed Watchmen, starring Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Jean Smart, and Louis Gossett, Jr. Her two Oscar nominations honored Davis’s work in period costume design for the Ray Charles biographical film Ray, directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Jamie Foxx, Regina King, and Kerry Washington, and the 1960s-set musical feature Dreamgirls, directed by Academy Award winner Bill Condon and starring Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé Knowles, and Jamie Foxx.

For her designs on HBO’s critically acclaimed series Westworld, Davis earned an Emmy nomination and went on to receive the Costume Designers Guild Award — the fifth such honor bestowed by her fellow designers following The Help, Dreamgirls, Watchmen, and Ray. The Costume Designers Guild even bestowed Davis with the Career Achievement Award in 2022.

Ryan J. O’Gara (Lighting Design) Broadway – Thoughts of a Colored Man. National Tour: Million Dollar Quartet – Christmas, Juke Box Hero, A Night with Janis Joplin, Vocalocity and The Little Prince. Various productions for Cirque du Soleil, Norwegian Cruise Line, Tokyo Disney Sea, New York City Opera, Paper Mill Playhouse, Walnut Street Theatre, Drury Lane – Chicago (2019 Jeff Nomination), TUTS, Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, North Carolina Theatre, Bucks County Playhouse, Signature Theatre DC, Laguna Playhouse, New Victory Theatre, Lincoln Center Festival, Capital Repertory Theatre and Bristol Riverside Theatre (2016 Barrymore Award). Associate Lighting Designer for over 25 Broadway productions. O’Gara graduated from NCSA.