VIDEO: Go Behind the Scenes at NBC's THE WIZ LIVE! Photo Shoot with David Alan Grier, Shanice Williams, NE-YO and Elijah Kelley!

By: Oct. 13, 2015
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

NBC is bringing you an all-star cast for The Wiz Live! Watch Ne-Yo, Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, and more LIVE December 3.

Posted by The Wiz on Tuesday, October 13, 2015


Following up NBC's early peek at the highly stylized costumes for NBC's THE WIZ LIVE!, go behind the scenes at the photo shoot with Elijah Kelley as the Scarecrow, NE-YO as the Tin Man, David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion, and Shanice Williams as Dorothy! THE WIZ LIVE! airs Thursday, December 3rd.

The production will star newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy alongside Grammy and Golden Globe-winner Queen Latifah as the Wizard, nine-time Grammy-winner Mary J. Blige as Evillene, original Dorothy, Stephanie Mills, as Auntie Em and David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion.

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, starring Mills. It won seven Tonys, including best musical. As previously announced, Mills is set to return to the show on NBC, this time in the role of 'Auntie Em'.

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron ("The Sound of Music Live!," "Peter Pan Live!") serve as executive producers. Tony winner Kenny Leon will direct with Harvey Fiersteinproviding new written material. Fatima Robinson serves as choreographer. "The Wiz Live!" is produced by Universal Television in association with Cirque Du Soleil Theatrical.

THE WIZ tells the classic story hundreds of millions of people have read in the L. Frank Baum books and then saw in the much-beloved 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz," but retold in an African-American/multicultural context. 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.


Vote Sponsor


Videos