Plot Synopsis

Based on "The Wiz," William F. Brown's adaption of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum, THE WIZ LIVE! is a live television event that features music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls with Harvey Fierstein providing new written material. THE WIZ LIVE! tells the classic story, retold in an African-American/multicultural context. Dorothy, a young woman from Kansas, is swept up in a tornado and relocated to a fantasy world that is inhabited by munchkins, good and bad witches, and, of course, flying monkeys. She eventually takes a path down a yellow brick road to find a wizard who can help her go home and along the way meets a scarecrow, tin man and cowardly lion, who all learn to help one another. Stephanie Mills, known for playing Dorothy in the original Broadway production of "The Wiz," portrays Auntie Em in THE WIZ LIVE!, which is broadcast live by NBC on Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 8pm ET (live)/PT (tape). Cirque du Soleil, whose new stage theatrical division is co-producing the live TV event, will present the play as a major Broadway revival for the 2016-17 season. On Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 8pm ET/PT -- eight days before the show's broadcast debut -- NBC premiered "The Making of the Wiz Live!," a one-hour special that takes a behind-the-scenes look at what has gone into creating the television event, from casting to costume design.