The Wiz‘s Dorothy now has all the travel companions she needs to ease on down the road.
R&B singer Ne-Yo and Elijah Kelley (Hairspray) will play the Tin Man and Scarecrow, respectively, in NBC’s live production of the musical, network president Bob Greenblatt announced Thursday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills.
Additionally, Grammy-winning musician Common will fill the non-singing, comedic role of the gatekeeper to Oz.
Airing Thursday, Dec. 3, The Wiz Live also stars Amber Riley (Glee), Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black), comedian David Alan Grier, Grammy winners Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige and newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy.
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* Leo Fitzpatrick (The Wire) will recur in Gotham Season 2 as Joe Pike, the leader of a notorious gang of arsonists known as the Pike Brothers, Deadline reports.
* Reverend Al Sharpton and fashion icon André Leon Talley will guest-star as themselves on Empire‘s Season 2 premiere, per EW.com.
* The animated holiday classic Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! — which has aired on ABC for the past eight years — will now air on NBC for the next two years.
* Jaime Ray Newman (Eureka, Red Widow) has joined ABC’s Wicked City (premiering Tuesday, Oct. 27) in the series regular role of Allison Roth, wife of Jeremy Sisto’s LAPD detective.
* Spike TV has given a 10-episode, straight-to-series order to Harvest, the cabler’s first scripted drama series in almost a decade. From producer Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI), the series centers on a cemetery caretaker who — when his estranged father shows up and threatens to expose a terrible secret — must partner with the man in a black-market tissue and body parts trade.
