NBC Might Be Doing The Wiz as its Next Live Musical!
If you guys are anything like us, you probably caught NBC’s “The Sound of Music, LIVE!” when it aired in December 2013. And you probably also watched Peter Pan Live, when it was on this last December. Yes, the shows got some not-so-great reviews, but does that mean we love them any less? Of course not. And does it mean that we’re not JUMPING OUT OF OUR SKIN BECAUSE NBC MIGHT DO THE WIZ? Oh, rest assured. We’re jumping.
There’s not a lot of information out there, but NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt recently gave a press conference where he said that while the network is going forward with The Music Man (which had already been rumored for 2015), it might actually premiere The Wiz first.
Kanye as the Lion! (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for LACMA; still from The Wiz)
And since Greenblatt didn’t mention any casting, the creative folks over at Slate went ahead and brainstormed for him. I am 100 percent behind all of their choices, especially the suggestion that Janelle Monáe (only one of my favorite performers, ever) play Dorothy. I also fully support Kanye cast as the Cowardly Lion.
Who do you think NBC should cast? Tell us in the comments below.