The star-studded 2015 US live TV production of the Tony Award-winning musical The Wiz will be the next show available free of charge on The Shows Must Go On YouTube channel.
Featuring Queen Latifah in the title role and Mary J. Blige as the Wicked Witch of the West, The Wiz Live! proved a hit with both the critics and viewers when it was first broadcast in December 2015.
The third non-Andrew Lloyd Webber production in the streaming service, The Wiz Live! will be available for 48 hours from 7pm (BST) on 12 June 2020.
Mixing elements of the original 1975 Broadway production and the 1978 film version, the NBC production also features Shanice Williams in her first major role as Dorothy alongside actor and comedian David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion, singer/songwriter Ne-Yo as the Tin Man and screen actor Elijah Kelley as Scarecrow.
The production also features Broadway’s original Dorothy as Aunty Em/Emily Gale, a Glee-era Amber Riley as Addaperle, Emmy Award-winner Uzo Aduba as Glinda and rapper Common as The Bouncer.
Directed by Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon and film and TV director and choreographer Matthew Diamond and executive produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the production was the third in the NBC series of live broadcast versions of major Broadway shows that had become a fixture in the pre-Christmas schedules in the US.
The Wiz Live! will be the third NBC TV production to be made available on the service following the replacement of last week’s streaming of Peter Pan Live! with a video message supporting Black Lives Matter. Viewers will be invited to make donations to civil rights organisation the NAACP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGBrcHckXnU
Aimed at giving locked-down theatre fans access to a West End or Broadway experience in their own homes, the new channel was launched in April by Universal Pictures Home Video Entertainment’s Content Group.
A new show is released online every Friday from 7pm British Standard Time for a limited 48-hour period. With no charge or sign-up fee payable, theatre fans who are able have been asked to make a donation to charitable organisations offering help and support to people in the industry facing hardship as the theatre closedown continues. The charities listed on The Shows Must Go On channel include Acting For Others, Broadway Cares and the Actors Benevolent Fund.
Alongside the full-length shows, clips of famous performances and behind-scenes footage are also being uploaded regularly to the channel.
Angela Thomas
www.youtube.com/theshowsmustgoon
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