buzzz worthy. . .
A multi-talented teen from New Jersey has snagged the role of Dorothy in her first major national production. Shanice Williams she will join a field of major stars from all corners of the entertainment world.
Fellow NJ native Queen Latifah has been cast as the Wiz. ‘Orange Is the New Black’s’ Uzo Aduba is Glinda the Good Witch of the South and ‘Glee’ alum Amber Riley will play Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North. Mary J. Blige is Evilene, the Wicked With of the West.
Ne-Yo has been cast as the Tin Man, while Elijah Kelley comes on as the Scarecrow – joining David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion and newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy. The four will ease on down the road toward Common, who will play the “non-singing Gatekeeper of Oz.”
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Rising star Shanice Williams, an 18-year-old New Jersey native who has been raised and trained in musical theater, is the new Dorothy in NBC’s upcoming holiday production of “The Wiz Live!,” set for Thursday, Dec. 3.
18-Year-Old New Jersey Native Will Wear the Silver Slippers and Join Previously Announced All-Star Cast
A multi-talented teen from New Jersey has snagged the role of Dorothy in her first major national production. Shanice Williams she will join a field of major stars from all corners of the entertainment world.
Fellow NJ native Queen Latifah has been cast as the Wiz. ‘Orange Is the New Black’s’ Uzo Aduba is Glinda the Good Witch of the South and ‘Glee’ alum Amber Riley will play Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North. Mary J. Blige is Evilene, the Wicked With of the West.
Ne-Yo has been cast as the Tin Man, while Elijah Kelley comes on as the Scarecrow – joining David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion and newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy. The four will ease on down the road toward Common, who will play the “non-singing Gatekeeper of Oz.”
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Rising star Shanice Williams, an 18-year-old New Jersey native who has been raised and trained in musical theater, is the new Dorothy in NBC’s upcoming holiday production of “The Wiz Live!,” set for Thursday, Dec. 3.
Williams was
selected out of hundreds of applicants nationwide who had auditioned to
portray the iconic role of a Kansas farm girl who gets swept up in a
tornado and is sent to the mysterious land of Oz.
With five years of
musical training that also includes extensive dance and piano, Williams
has co-starred in several local productions, including “West Side
Story,” “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” “42nd Street,” “Seussical”
and “Pippin.”
Last year Williams was nominated for best leading actress in a musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse’s annual Rising Star Awards.
NBC recently
raised the project’s star quotient in a big way by adding multi-award
winners and A-list stars Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige to the
telecast.
Queen Latifah
stars as the Wiz, the mysterious and powerful wizard who holds the keys
to the Emerald City, but whose metamorphosis from ordinary to
extraordinary is itself a hoax. She rose to her lofty position after
being transported by accident to Oz in a hot air balloon during a
snowstorm.
Mary J. Blige will
play Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West, who holds sway over the
Winkies and the Winged Monkeys that do her bidding. She captures Dorothy
and her friends to avenge the unintentional murder of her evil sister,
Evvamean, and to get back the powerful silver slippers given to Dorothy
by the Good Witch of the North.
David Alan Grier
will play the Cowardly Lion, who asks Dorothy if he can join her in her
journey down the Yellow Brick Road and ask the Wiz for some courage,
which he is severely lacking.
Stephanie Mills
was previously announced to portray Auntie Em in “The Wiz Live!” Mills
is best known to many for playing Dorothy in the original Broadway
production of “The Wiz.”
“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!” is produced by Universal Television in association with Cirque Du Soleil Theatrical.
Please visit the official show site at: http://www.nbc.com/the-wiz-live
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