海角大神

The upcoming NBC live production of 鈥淭he Wiz鈥� has reportedly discovered its Dorothy.

Actress will take on the role this December. Williams will be making her TV debut with 鈥淭he Wiz.鈥澛�

In addition to Williams, Queen Latifah of 鈥淐hicago鈥� and singer Mary J. Blige will be part of the cast. reported that Latifah will be the Wiz, while Blige will take on the role of Evillene, as the Wicked Witch of the West is known in this incarnation of 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz.鈥� Stephanie Mills, who played Dorothy on Broadway, is going to play Aunt Em.聽

In addition, actor David Alan Grier of 鈥淏ad Teacher鈥� will reportedly play the Cowardly Lion. Grier has starred on Broadway in such productions as 鈥淭he Gershwins鈥� Porgy and Bess鈥� and 鈥淎 Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."聽

All of NBC鈥檚 recent live productions have been led by an actress. Country singer Carrie Underwood starred as Maria in the 2013 production 鈥淭he Sound of Music Live!,鈥� while Allison Williams of 鈥淕irls鈥� portrayed Peter Pan in last year鈥檚 鈥淧eter Pan Live!鈥�

The casting of Williams is almost the reverse of the strategy taken by NBC in casting 鈥淭he Sound of Music Live!鈥� In 鈥淢usic,鈥� Underwood was the superstar who could draw audiences (Underwood has won multiple Grammy Awards, CMT Awards, and CMA Awards, among others), while the network surrounded her with Broadway veterans like Audra McDonald, 海角大神 Borle, and Laura Benanti in the supporting roles. Meanwhile, last year鈥檚 live musical production 鈥淧eter Pan Live!鈥� didn鈥檛 have a standout star. Williams is fairly well known for the HBO show 鈥淕irls鈥� and audiences know actor Christopher Walken, who played Captain Hook, but there wasn鈥檛 an obvious star who would make viewers who wouldn鈥檛 otherwise have watched a musical tune in.聽

In contrast, Blige will no doubt woo viewers who would perhaps otherwise be uninterested in theater. In addition, the roles of the Scarecrow and the Tin Man seem to be as yet unfilled, and if a singer with many mainstream hits is cast in one of those roles, they could bring in even more non-musical theater fans.

NBC revived the live musical format in 2013 with 鈥淪ound鈥� and other networks are now following suit, with Fox planning a live production of the musical 鈥淕rease鈥� in January. What has the networks betting big on these shows? It鈥檚 all part of the 鈥渆vent programming鈥� trend that sees networks trying to lure people back from cable to live TV. 鈥淪ound鈥� was a smash ratings hit and NBC has no doubt learned from the enduring appeal of its program 鈥淪aturday Night Live,鈥� which recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary. On live TV, there鈥檚 an atmosphere of suspense, which was brought up by 鈥淪ound鈥� producer Neil Meron. 鈥淭hey have to keep going,鈥� he of the cast. 鈥淭hey can't stop. Somebody could trip and fall, somebody could forget their lines, somebody could hit a bad note when they are singing 鈥� anything could happen 鈥� That's all part of the excitement of doing it."聽

鈥淢usic鈥� got people talking on Twitter, too 鈥� far more people about the program than the Syfy movie 鈥淪harknado,鈥� which is often credited with being a social media hit.

The combination of the live format and a star people will want to watch can be a great one. After the ratings slide NBC experienced with 鈥淧eter,鈥� perhaps 鈥淲iz鈥� can be a ratings success for the network.

鈥淭he Wiz Live!鈥� airs in December.