Over the past few weeks, NBC has revealed a couple of sneak peeks from behind the scenes of the television station’s special, The Wiz Live! including a clip of the cast singing the Wiz’s hit song, “Ease On Down The Road.” Now there People has revealed a photo shoot of the star-studded cast in full costume.
Many were skeptical about whether the upcoming cast would be able to compete with the Broadway rendition (starring Stephanie Mills) or the Motown version (starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson), but after seeing the cast in this photo, it’s clear they are reviving the 1978 reproduction in a refreshing and positive way.
In a photoshoot with People, the cast show off their Paul Tazewell- designed costumes, which he describes as the “edgiest of high fashion.” Newcomer, Shanice Williams who plays Dorothy is surrounded by a talented cast, including Mary J. Blige as Evilene (the Wicked Witch of the West), Queen Latifah as the The Wiz, Common as Bouncer the Emerald City Gatekeeper, and Orange is the New Black‘s Uzo Aduba as Glinda. Ne-Yo as the Tin Man, Elijah Kelley as Scarecrow, and David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion also round up this all-star cast.
While people are definitely checking out the cast and drawing some comparisons to it’s classic, Ne-Yo claims it’s not about that. “We aren’t going to get better than what was, because that’s not what this is about. This is about bringing the story to the next generation.”
Well, with the unveiling of the cast fully dressed in their costumes, there’s definitely a lot of excitement and high hopes for this new generation of The Wiz. The special does not air until Dec. 3 on NBC, but until then, check out the cast in costume above.
This cast performance of “Ease on Down The Road” is everything. Are you ready for #TheWiz LIVE! December 3 on @NBC? https://t.co/UZFrctb0zM
— NBC (@nbc) November 16, 2015