First Look Pics At NBC’s The Wiz Live!Posted by Wilson Morales
October 14, 2015
NBC has released, through People Magazine, the first look photos of their anticipated holiday production of The Wiz Live., which airs on Dec. 3.
The production will star Shanice Williams, an 18-year-old newcomer from New Jersey, as Dorothy while David Alan Grier will play the Cowardly Lion. Ne-Yo will play the Tin Man, who was once a flesh-and-blood woodsman but a spell put on him by the Wicked Witch causes him to lose his limbs and heart. He learns that he’s never lost the ability to feel. Elijah Kelley will play the Scarecrow, the first of the three friends to meet Dorothy and who has always dreamed of having brains, but never realizing that he’s the smartest of them all.
The musical also features Queen Latifah stars as the Wiz; Mary J. Blige will play Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West; Stephanie Mills (who played Dorothy in the original Broadway production of “The Wiz”) as Auntie Em. Common will play the Bouncer, the gatekeeper of the entrance to Emerald City who is out to get what he can from Dorothy and her three friends. Orange is the New Black’s Uzo Aduba will be playing Glinda, the Good Witch of the South and Glee’s Amber Riley will be Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North.
The musical, according to NBC, is described as such: “Dorothy, a young woman from Kansas, is swept up in a tornado and relocated to a fantasy world that is inhabited by munchkins, good and bad witches, and, of course, flying monkeys. She eventually takes a path down a yellow brick road to find a wizard who can help her go home and along the way meets a scarecrow, tin man and cowardly lion, who all learn to help one another.”
“The Wiz Live!” is adapted from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum, with a book by William F. Brown, and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls. The production opened on Broadway in 1975 at the Majestic Theatre and won seven Tonys, including Best Musical.
Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (“The Sound of Music Live!,” “Peter Pan Live!,” Oscar-winning “Chicago”) will executive produce. Kenny Leon (Tony winner, “A Raisin in the Sun”) is stage director and Matthew Diamond is TV director, with Harvey Fierstein (three-time Tony winner, “Torch Song Trilogy,” “Hairspray” and “La Cage aux Folles”) providing new written material.
Esteemed choreographer Fatima Robinson (“Dreamgirls,” “Ali”) is also on board, along with music producer Harvey Mason Jr. (“Dreamgirls, “Pitch Perfect 2”) and Stephen Oremus (“The Book of Mormon,” “Kinky Boots”) as music director, orchestrator and co-producer of the music.
The Wiz LIVE! airs on Thursday, December 3 at 8/9c on NBC.
Preview
The Wiz Live! – Shanice Williams: The Road to Dorothy in The Wiz Live!
