NBC casts New Jersey teen as Dorothy in 'The Wiz'

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Shanice Williams, an 18-year-old New Jersey native, has landed the coveted role of Dorothy in The Wiz Live!, NBC announced Wednesday.

Williams was selected out of hundreds of applicants nationwide who had auditioned to portray the iconic role of a Kansas farm girl who gets swept up in a tornado and is sent to the mysterious land of Oz.

With five years of musical training, which also includes extensive dance and piano, Williams has co-starred in several local productions, including West Side Story, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, 42nd Street, Seussical and Pippin.

Featuring Queen Latifah as the title character and Mary J. Blige as the Wicked Witch of the West, the musical production of The Wiz Live! is to air on Dec. 3.

David Alan Grier will play the Cowardly Lion, while Stephanie Mills -- who played Dorothy in the original Broadway production -- was previously announced to portray Auntie Em.