There will be no Wells Fargo wagon comin' down the street this year.
After announcing last year that it had secured the rights to The Music Man, NBC has instead chosen to make The Wiz its next live musical effort, the network announced Monday.
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“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,” said NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt, who had teased the possibility of the switch back in January.
Executive producer duo Craig Zadan and Neil Meron -- who oversaw 2014's Peter Pan with Allison Williams and 2013's The Sound of Music starring Carrie Underwood -- will once again helm the live production, which will also feature performers from Cirque du Soleil.
Moreover, the NBC production will pave the way for a Broadway revival for the 2016-17 stage season, which is a first.
Both the TV and stage productions will be directed by Kenny Leon (Steel Magnolias, Raisin in the Sun) in collaboration with Harvey Fierstein, "who will contribute new material to the original Broadway book by William F. Brown," NBC said.
“We're thrilled to have the opportunity to not only produce this as our next live musical for NBC, but to then see it move to Broadway for a new generation to experience,” Zadan added.
The Wiz, adapted from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, ran for four years on Broadway from 1975 to 1979 and was made into a movie starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson in 1978.
This production will mark NBC's third live musical effort, and will likely be a show that benefits from the two years of trial and error that have predated it.
The network's inaugural effort, Underwood's Sound of Music , saw a huge win for the network with viewership around 22 million but it received less than favorable reviews. The next year, with Peter Pan, NBC put stock in a decidedly less big name star with Williams but creatively the production soared. The result? Panshed half of Sound of Music's audience but garnered slightly more positive reactions.
What this means for The Wiz is TBD, but until then, tell us your casting suggestions in the comments below.