The cast of the 1978 movie starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — NBC has officially announced The Wiz will be its next live musical production.
The network said Monday it will collaborate with Cirque du Soleil on The Wiz, which will air Thursday, December 3. A cast has not yet been announced.
Craig Zadan and Neil Meron — who have produced the past three Oscars telecasts as well as the NBC live musicals The Sound of Music Live! and Peter Pan Live! — will return for the new production.
NBC noted that Cirque du Soleil will also work on a Broadway revival of The Wiz that will debut during the 2016-2017 season.
The Wiz initially opened on Broadway in 1975, re-imagining L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in an African-American context. A movie adaptation hit theaters in 1978, starring Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Lena Horne and Richard Pryor.
Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon is on board for the TV production and the Broadway revival in collaboration with Harvey Fierstein, who will contribute new material to the original Broadway book by William F. Brown.
NBC previously announced it has a Music Man production in the works. It is expected to premiere in 2016.
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