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The Wiz Will Be The Next NBC Live Musical + Tell Us Your Dream Cast

Well, NBC broke the internet yesterday with the announcement that their next live musical will air on December 3rd with a production of The Wiz. It was rumored that the production was suppose to be a live version of The Music Man but that has been put to sleep with this breaking news. As soon as we heard we could not contain ourselves. Us, along with the rest of the twitter-verse, began to go up in arms.

According to Deadline:

NBC has partnered with Cirque du Soleil to co-produce the live event. It will then become a Broadway revival for the 2016-17 season.Once again Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will exec produce. Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon will stage both the television production and Broadway revival, in collaboration with Tony winner and Broadway icon Harvey Fierstein, who will contribute new material to the original Broadway book by William F. Brown.

Little did we know, the announcement was only the beginning. The excitement quickly turned to anticaption and axiety of who will be cast in this live production directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon. Everyone had their own ideas and must haves in that list. Some of which included Janelle Monae, Jennifer Hudson, LaChanze, Audra McDonald, Tittuss Burgess, & Billy Porter, just to name a few.

Everyone had their own version they thought worked best but, if you didnt get a chance to create your own, there is still time! Tell us your dream cast for NBC’s live version. It’s fun to imagine but we’re pretty sure we don’t have anything to worry about. Kenny Leon told us himself

And just for good measure:

PSA: The Musical Version of The Wiz and the movie version of The Wiz ARE NOT THE SAME. Prepare yourself and cast accordingly

The Wiz is adapted from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Subsequently, Baum’s book was adapted as a stage musical with a book by William F. Brown, and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls. The adaptation, which featured an all-black cast, debuted in October, 1974 at the Morris Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore. Starring Stephanie Mills as Dorthoy. It moved to Broadway’s Majestic Theatre on January, 1975, where it ran for four years and won seven Tonys, including best musical.

Written By

Drew Shade is a theatre artist and enthusiast who fosters artistic diversity and excellence for the love of Black theatre artists. He is the Founder/Creative Director of Broadway Black, Off-Book Podcast & The Antonyo Awards. “Have a belief in yourself that is bigger than anyone’s disbelief.” – August Wilson

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