The latest additions to the NBC's upcoming live musical are tapped to portray Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the gatekeeper to Oz.
- Aug 14, 2015
AceShowbiz - NBC announces three more additions to the upcoming live musical "The Wiz". R&B singer Ne-Yo is cast as Tin Man, "Hairspray" actor Elijah Kelley is tapped to play Scarecrow, and rapper Common joins the cast in a non-singing comedic role of the Bouncer.
Tin Man 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. The Bouncer is the gatekeeper of the entrance to Emerald City who is out to get what he can from Dorothy and her three friends.
Scarecrow played by the late Michael Jackson in the 1978 movie version is the first of the three friends to meet Dorothy. He's always dreamed of having brains, never realizing that he's the smartest of them all. The role will reunite Kelley with his "Hairspray" co-star Queen Latifah and producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.
"The Wiz" will air December 3, following NBC's "The Sound of Music Live!" and "Peter Pan Live!". It stars Latifah as the titular Wiz, Mary J. Blige as the Wicked Witch of the West, Shanice Williams as Dorothy, and Stephanie Mills, who starred as Dorothy in the original Broadway production, as Aunt Em. David Alan Grier is added as the Cowardly Lion, Uzo Aduba as Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, and Amber Riley as Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North.
