NBC announces 'The Wiz' as next live musical

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Today, NBC announced that The Wiz will be its next live musical performance — with Cirque du Soleil collaborating on the project with plans to bring the show to Broadway in 2016.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

NBC’s The Wiz, set for Thursday, Dec. 3, will again be executive produced by Sound of Music and Peter Panduo Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, with Tony-winning director Kenny Leon attached to direct both the live event as well as the Broadway revival in 2016-17. Tony winner and Broadway icon Harvey Fierstein will contribute new material to the original book by William F. Brown and work alongside Zadan, Meron and Leon. Leon won a 2014 Tony Award for directing A Raisin in the Sun, and earned a nomination for Fences. Fierstein, as a writer, won Tonys for La Cage Aux Folles and Torch Song Trilogy. He’s also written books for musical hits including Kinky Boots and Newsies. As an actor, he’s won Tonys for best actor in a musical (Hairspray) and best actor in a play (Torch Song).

“We love this yearly tradition and we’re more excited than ever to not only bring another Broadway musical to America’s living rooms, but also see it land on Broadway as well,” NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said. “Cirque’s incredible imagination will help bring the fantasy world of Oz vividly to life and give this great show a modern spin on the age-old story we all love.”

No word yet on what actors are attached to the project.