Kenny Leon Directs On Stage And Screen In ‘The Wiz Live!’

December 3rd, 2015

THE WIZ LIVE! — Pictured: (l-r) Elijah Kelley as Scarecrow, Ne-Yo as Tin-Man, Shanice Williams as Dorothy, David Alan Grier as Lion — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Virginia Sherwood / NBCUniversal

The third time’s the charm.

But NBC isn’t just banking on luck with their third live musical theater telecast in as many years. For Thursday’s production of “The Wiz Live!,” NBC asked Atlanta’s own Kenny Leon to direct the iconic 1974 adaptation of the classic children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

Leon is no stranger to adaptations and revivals himself. He won the 2014 Tony Award for best director for his revival of “A Raisin in the Sun,” which he also directed for television in 2008.

Speaking with Lois Reitzes early Wednesday morning, Leon praised NBC for their “courageous” undertaking of these live musical telecasts. He also gushed about his cast, especially R&B star Ne-Yo — whom Leon says will be “the surprise of the whole telecast.”

The director mused that tonight’s live telecast is “not a movie, not a television show … not theater … It’s really a hybrid of what is good about all of that. It doesn’t look like anything you’ve ever quite seen on television.” Leon and the crew learned from the successes of “Peter Pan” and “The Sound of Music,” and now the director said he believes viewers “will be surprised at where this art form is going.”