Fill Those Ruby Slippers! NBC to Hold L.A. Casting Call for Role of 'Dorothy' in THE WIZ LIVE

Ladies on the West Coast still have a chance to star as 'Dorothy' in NBC's upcoming live presentation of THE WIZ. Deadline writes that the network will be hosting a second open call (the first was held last month in NYC), on July 20 at Third Street Dance in Los Angeles.

Casting directors are looking for a young, African-American woman, 18-27 years old, with "an extraordinary voice that can tell a story, as well as be mature with a youthful energy."

Candidates need to be prepared to sing the songs "Home," "Ease on Down the Road" and "Be a Lion" from the original Broadway production of THE WIZ.

NBC's upcoming holiday special "The Wiz Live!" will air Thursday, Dec. 3.

"The Wiz Live!" is adapted from "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum, with a book by William F. Brown, and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls. The production opened on Broadway in 1975 at the Majestic Theatre, starring Stephanie Mills. It won seven Tonys, including best musical. As previously announced, Mills is set to return to the show on NBC, this time in the role of 'Auntie Em'.

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron ("The Sound of Music Live!," "Peter Pan Live!") serve as executive producers. Tony winner Kenny Leon will direct with Harvey Fierstein providing new written material. Fatima Robinson serves as choreographer. "The Wiz Live!" is produced by Universal Television in association with Cirque Du Soleil Theatrical.

"The Wiz" tells the classic story hundreds of millions of people have read in the L. Frank Baum books and then saw in the much-beloved 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz," but 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.

Pictured: At the June open casting call in NYC for NBC's holiday musical "The Wiz Live!" a "Dorothy" hopeful gets her chance to audition. Photo by Peter Kramer/NBC.