Shanice Williams Checks In Before THE WIZ LIVE!: 'I'm Going to Do a Lot of Prayin'

The big day has arrived! THE WIZ LIVE! airs tonight, December 3, at 8PM/7c. The production will star newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy alongside Grammy and Golden Globe-winner Queen Latifah as the Wizard, nine-time Grammy-winner Mary J. Blige as Evillene, original Dorothy, Stephanie Mills, as Auntie Em and David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion.

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 Mills. It won seven Tonys, including best musical.

BroadwayWorld was on set earlier this month as the company was readying for the big night and we checked in with Shanice Williams (who plays Dorothy) to find out how rehearsals have been going so far. Check out the full interview below!

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What has this experience been like so far?

It's magical for me because this is my first thing ever, so no matter what it's magical! It's amazing! The sets, when I first saw them I was crying! When you guys see them, it's just a fantasy world. It's beautiful.

You're working with Stephanie Mills and singing with her!

Did you see that video! We had to do a few takes because there were some water works. It was very emotional. A lot of people don't know this, but I auditioned the day after I got off the plane from Los Angeles. I was in school and it was a rough time in my life. I felt like I didn't belong there, but I knew that when I came home I had to do something with my life and I didn't know what was next. I knew performing was what I wanted to do. I was like, "If I go to this audition I'll at least know what a huge audition is like. I'll get that off my plate." So, that's why I went. I went for the learning experience. I never knew that this would turn into anything. This seemed impossible to me.

How you feel you've evolved in terms of inside yourself as well as a performer?

I've learned a lot about myself definitely. You have to be focused all the time. The most important thing is to stay humble because there's always someone telling you that you are this or you are going to that, but you have to be humble and remember that it's all about the work. Being with this cast... they teach me so much, just about living in the moment and their work process. Sometimes I just watch them and you learn so much from being around them.

How are you going to handle the pressure on the day of the live show? I can't imagine what it would be like.

There's always pressure no matter what you do. Whether it's a high school show or whatever. Kenny [Leon] has this saying, "If you're going to pray, don't worry and if you're going to worry, don't pray." I'm going to do a lot of prayin'. I've already been doing a lot of prayin'. I've gonna do that and lay it all on the table and give it my best and leave it on the stage.

Have you been working with Toto?

Yes! He's so cute!

What's that been like working with a live dog? How many are there in the show?

There's two. There's Toto and then there's an understudy Toto. We've definitely come a long way. He likes me a lot more. I love dogs, but it was pretty quick, the transformation. He's 10 years old. He's a senior citizen, so he's not too much trouble, but he's really sweet and Bill is an amazing trainer. He just does everything and sometimes it's like, "Okay Toto!" He's developing his character too.

What's your favorite part about playing Dorothy?

Well, I like that I get to meet a lot of people. It's like a journey. I meet the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion. We have our own little relationships within the show and I love those guys. They're my family. No matter what happens, when all of this is all over, I know they're always going to be there for me. So, just being in that and doing it with them 24/7 it's really fun.

Do you see a little bit of yourself in her?

Yes! Honestly, I was telling Kenny, I called him one day and I was like, "Can you just explain her to me?'"And by the end of it I was like, "Kenny! This is creepy, but we're the same person!" I went to Los Angeles for school. I thought that's where I wanted to go. I thought I wanted to go all the way across the country and I found out that I didn't belong there. Just like Dorothy... she thinks she wants to go to Omaha, but she doesn't. When she goes away from home she realizes how much she misses it, and that was me. At the beginning she is also struggling to find out who she is and where she belongs. I feel like everyone has a little bit of that inside of them. Especially at my age, trying to figure out who I am. So we really connect in that aspect of life.

Liz Caplan is training me right now. All my vocal coaches have been pretty great. Thank god.

Is Liz going to be on the set that day with you?

Yes! She is. She's going to come that morning and we'll get all warmed up and get ready.

How much of the story of The Wiz and Wizard of Oz did you know before? I know this version is going to be very 2015...

Well, I did it in middle school. I was too nervous to audition for Dorothy, so I was Addaperle, but during that point when I was in it I would watch the movie all the time. Me and my Dad would listen to the soundtrack in the car. So, I knew the story and I was already in love with before this happened. For it to be modern, I'm not sitting down thinking "This is what I'm gonna change" and "This is what's going to be different." It's just that I'm a 19 year-old girl in 2015, I look at things differently, I deal with things differently. I'm just gonna be myself. You know, 2015. It's just going to be modern like that.

Now that you are part of The Wiz legacy, if they did this in 20 years and you could pick any other character to do, which would you do?

I just feel like that bond that me and Stephanie [Mills] have when she's playing Aunt Em and I'm playing Dorothy it's just amazing. So, I guess if they did it in 20 years I would want to be Aunt Em because it's just so special, like that part in the beginning with Dorothy and her. In that beginning part, people keep saying it's like "Passing the torch," I don't know what it's. I just feel like when she's with me, anything is possible.

What is it like working with Queen Latifah? Has she given you any acting advice?

We are both Jersey girls! We just started working together this week, so we haven't had a lot of time to actually sit and talk cause she is trying to jump into things and learn everything. She's so cool, she's so down to Earth, like I knew she would be of course. Her and Mary J Blige. I can look all over and not find one negative energy in this show, which I have never heard that ever before. That's incredible. These people, I can honestly say they are my family.

The three wise-guys! How do you keep a straight face during rehearsals?

The biggest challenge in the beginning was David [Alan Grier] because he never turns off. I got in trouble a few times because you really have to stay focused to like not be throw off by him, but it's just fun. It's non-stop fun. I love him.

What have you learned that you feel you are going to use?

To have the lead role in this, I feel like I can be ready for anything to come. Definitely I've learned to be focused and be in it and give it 100% because the cameras are always on me. There's like one scene where I'm not in it. So, that's taught me a lot. I have to always be on.

With so much pressure on you, what would you say has been the biggest challenge?

Well, the whole focus thing has been my biggest challenge because this was my first time ever doing this. It's hard work and there's a lot of times where you get a few seconds where you think you aren't being watched and you are just taking a minute. The biggest challenge is always being in it 100%. There's never a moment where you can turn off. You always have to be on and that's really hard when you think about it. Sometimes I try to practice it in everyday life, just to always be on, but it's hard to always be present. Sometimes you just want to take a moment, but that has been the biggest challenge.

What's the secret to memorizing all your lines and the lyrics?

Our director believes in repetition. We do things over and over and over and over again. Once we finish you have to study and then I have to come back ready. I mean seriously, the most pressure is on me. I'm a girl nobody knows- I have to be on my A-game. I try to work harder. Kenny always says, "You have to work harder than everybody else." Of course. So that was a big thing for me, to know my lines.

So are you in your room just screaming and shouting to yourself?

At the beginning I was. I did a lot of work with my dogs. I sung "Be a Lion" to them. It was really fun. My Mom and I would go over my lines. It was fun. Now we've got it done. Once we hit the first run through and I was like, "I know all my lines." We were good to go.

It's like The Wiz 24/7 for you.

Yes!

What else has changed for you? Has your style changed?

I've always had a nice style, but no reason to dress like this except for fancy occasions. So, now I have a reason to dress like this so I can.

So what was the big thing you bought?

You know what? I haven't had a splurge moment. I haven't had a splurge moment, but it is my Mom's birthday month. Birthday month. We do the whole month. She's funny. So like I just love her so much I just learn to buy for her. I was like, 'Mom, what do you want?' I'm going to give her anything she wants because she's the reason I'm here. She likes this really nice, fancy perfume so I got that for her. That was just one of the presents. The whole month she gets presents.

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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 Fiersteinproviding 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.

Photo Credit: Virginia Sherwood/NBC