First Look at ‘THE WIZ Live’ cast during rehearsal (VIDEO)

Posted by | Ray Cornelius

It looks like the cast of NBC’s The Wiz Live are starting rehearsals for their highly anticipated December premiere! The show’s director, Kenny Leon, released these exclusive photos today of the actors getting prepared to Ease on Down the Yellow Brick Road.

Cast members include Ne-Yo (Tinman), David Alan Grier ( Lion), Stephanie Mills (Aunt Em), Shanice Williams (Dorothy), Elijah Kelley (Scarecrow) and Amber Riley (Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North and pictured with Leon).

As previously reported, The Wiz Live will air on December 3 and features an all-star cast including Mary J. Blige as (Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West), Uzo Aduba (Glinda, the Good Witch of the South), Common as (the Royal Gatekeeper) and Queen Latifah (The Wiz).

The Wiz  is an African-American adaptation of the L. Frank Baum classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The show first appeared on Broadway in 1975 and was later turned into a Hollywood movie in 1978 starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

Check out a video below of Shanice Williams’ journey to becoming Dorothy!

Photo Credit: Facebook/Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre