The musical will air live on Thursday with Queen Latifah and Ne-Yo in starring roles.
It's a brand new day for the classic musical The Wiz as it gets a live television remake on NBC this week.
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Queen Latifah stars in the title role as The Wiz.
She told INSIDE EDITION: “It's going to mean a lot to everybody watching it. This is an amazing story, a fantasy; there are so many themes that will connect to everybody watching whether you are a five year old kid, or 45. It will remind you of different life lessons and let you escape for a while.
“This is incredible, this is incredible, it's the opportunity of a lifetime," she continued. "This is one of the first plays I ever saw, actually the first play I ever saw.”
The Wiz first hit Broadway in 1975 and went on to win seven TONY awards. Three years later, it was made into a film, starring Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow.
Actress Shanice Williams will now step into those iconic slippers as Dorothy.
“It's very special to me, my family said: ‘You gotta kill it, this is our favorite musical.’ I want this generation to be able to say that too. I want them to fall in love with The Wiz also,” Williams said.
Williams has been getting pointers from Stephanie Mills, who was just 17 when she starred in the original Broadway production. Now, at age 58, she will play Auntie Em.
“It's wonderful that the journey is still continuing. We started in 1975, who knew that 40 years later it would be done in a big huge way,” Mills said.
Orange Is the New Black's Uzo Aduba will play Glinda the Good Witch. Comedian David Alan Grier plays the Cowardly Lion.
“The last run-through we had they said, ‘David, you were crying?" I said, ‘No that's a bead of sweat that found an opening in the prosthetics and started dribbling out. ‘”
Singer Ne-Yo will play the Tin Man and he told INSIDE EDITION: “The only part of this I am not enjoying is putting on that damn costume. It is very, very heavy, very hot.”
The performance will also star Common, Mary J. Blige, Amber Riley and Elijah Kelley.
On December 3rd, all eyes will be on this talented new cast as they ease on down the road.
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