Brandy, Latifah Remake 'Oz'

Jan. 30 -- Brandy will be upgrading her glass slippers to a pair of ruby ones.

The R&B singer, who stars in the UPN television series Moesha and played the title role in a 1997 ABC production of Cinderella, will play Dorothy in a hip-hop adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, according to trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter.

The television project, tentatively titled The O.Z., will also star Queen Latifah as Glinda the Good Witch, Busta Rhymes as the Cowardly Lion, rapper Ginuwine as the Scarecrow, and rock legend Little Richard as the Wizard. All the stars have agreed to the Fox TV Pictures project, but no deals have been signed, according to the paper. Randall Kleiser, who directed hit 1978 musical Grease, will helm the project.

Not in Kansas Anymore

In the new version of the story, written by Tina Andrews, Brandy will play a lonely hip-hop producer in Los Angeles. Her adventure begins when the city is hit by a major earthquake and she finds herself transported to a mysterious land called the Big O.Z.

Music will be handled by producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and his wife, Tracey, through her Edmonds Entertainment Group, which is also creating the music for the upcoming live-action movie version of the cartoon classic Josie and the Pussycats.

Brandy, whose full name is Brandy Norwood, released a self-titled debut album in 1995 at the age of 15. She has since acted in Moesha, the 1998 movie I Know What You Did Last Summer, and the 1999 television movie Double Platinum, with fellow singer Diana Ross (who, incidentally, played the role of Dorothy in the 1978 remake of the tale, The Wiz). Brandy released her second album, Never Say Never, in 1998.