An all-star performance of The Wiz will be broadcast for free next week as part of the ongoing The Shows Must Go On series

The Emmy Award-winning show, starring Queen Latifah, Mary J Blige, David Alan Grier, Ne-Yo, Elijah Kelly, Uzo Aduba, Amber Riley, Common, Stephanie Mills, Shanice Williams, was originally broadcast live in 2015. It was watched by 11.5 million people when first presented, garnering a 91 per cent response on Rotten Tomatoes. Originally opening on Broadway in 1975 and running for four years, The Wiz has music and lyric by Charlie Small, Timothy Graphenreed, Harold Wheeler, George Faison and Luther Vandross, with a book by William F Brown. It was adapted for the big screen in 1978 starring Diana Ross as Dorothy. Based on L Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , the piece follows Dorothy as she is whisked away to the land of Oz where she encounters a cavalcade of whacky characters.