Posted: 11/21/15 at 1:48pm
The sound of music live and peter pan live didn't have sets like this. For this production, they have led screens in the background and it is more simple staging than the others.
Posted: 11/21/15 at 2:06pm
This looks like something I would enjoy more on a tab of acid. I think it's going to horrendously bad, but fun... if I'm high enough. And it's on my birthday! Yippee!!!
Updated On: 11/21/15 at 02:06 PM
Posted: 11/21/15 at 2:29pm
LED screens often look horrendous on film. The Phantom concert is a chore to watch for this very reason. I hope they have some way of combating the distortion for the broadcast.
Posted: 11/21/15 at 2:55pm
Which could be its biggest drawback. It just looks very cheaply done. Anyone else think someone younger could have played Dorothy? I know she's only 19 or something, but she looks like mid to late 20s. I don't know if Keke Palmer has the range, but I think I would have preferred her. With this being said, I could eat it all when I watch the program and become blown away by her performance. Who knows.
Posted: 11/21/15 at 3:22pm
smallvillefan16 said: "Which could be its biggest drawback. It just looks very cheaply done. Anyone else think someone younger could have played Dorothy? I know she's only 19 or something, but she looks like mid to late 20s. I don't know if Keke Palmer has the range, but I think I would have preferred her. With this being said, I could eat it all when I watch the program and become blown away by her performance. Who knows.
"No way. Shanice looks her age and she is absolutely perfect for this role. She really embodies the role of dorothy and she has a beautiful voice. I saw a few promos which featured some of her acting and she is perfect.
Posted: 11/21/15 at 4:35pm
I'm sorry but this just looks so gaudy and over blown.
Posted: 11/21/15 at 4:40pm
I too feel like Shanice comes across as too old. She feels much more like the age Diana Ross was in the movie, not a young girl.
Posted: 11/21/15 at 4:55pm
I think Shanice gives the right youthfulness for the role--she doesn't seem too old to me. It seems, in my opinion, that the role fits her quite well.
Updated On: 11/21/15 at 04:55 PM
Posted: 11/21/15 at 5:16pm
Showface said: "I think Shanice gives the right youthfulness for the role--she doesn't seem to old to me. It seems, in my opinion, that the role fits her quite well.
"I agree with you. shanice is perfect for this role. Based on what i have seen in the recent promos, she plays dorothy very well. Shanice has a huge career ahead of her. She will kill it!!!
Posted: 11/21/15 at 6:35pm
LED screens instead of sets. Something which have already been mentioned, and comes to mind is the 25th Anniversary filming of Phantom. It looks terrible on HD screens with lines popping out occasionally. 
Did they have a lower budget for The Wiz?
Posted: 11/21/15 at 6:41pm
Danster said: "LED screens instead of sets. Something which have already been mentioned, and comes to mind is the 25th Anniversary filming of Phantom. It looks terrible on HD screens with lines popping out occasionally. Did they have a lower budget for The Wiz?
"
Well, based on how simple the staging is and how i saw cardboard flowers, it seems like they did have a lower budget
Posted: 11/21/15 at 7:24pm
I have seen the LED screens for this and they are effective with the added set pieces. I think they will be impressive.
Posted: 11/21/15 at 7:30pm
People are still interested in this?
Posted: 11/21/15 at 7:40pm
Well, some of us are working on it!
;-D
Posted: 11/21/15 at 7:53pm
CarlosAlberto said: "People are still interested in this?
"
Yes. A lot of people are very invested in this. It actually looks good. Despite what the costumes and sets look like, the cast and crew are working very hard to make sure this will be great. Have some faith into them. I remember you used to be excited for this, now you changed your mind. You can't just judge something that you haven't even seen yet.
Posted: 11/22/15 at 3:19am
QueenAlice said: "I too feel like Shanice comes across as too old. She feels much more like the age Diana Ross was in the movie, not a young girl.
"
Diana Ross came across as special needs to me. Or someone who had had a traumatic brain injury in the film. I rather see Jackee Harry or Emma Stome or even Jussie Smollett in drag as Dorothy before sitting through Diana's abysmal and embarrassing performance. She was bad, baby. I enjoy her performances in other things and enjoy her tunes. Don't think I'm being a hater, dear.
Updated On: 11/22/15 at 03:19 AM
Posted: 11/22/15 at 1:35pm
She's also a very tall woman, and it takes away from the fact Dorothy is supposed to be young. Diana Ross was ridiculous in the 70s film, so Shanice can only improve upon that. But, when Dorothy is as big as the lion? It's kind of hard to think she would need any protection. I rather have a tall Dorothy than a bad singing Dorothy.
Updated On: 11/22/15 at 01:35 PM
Posted: 11/22/15 at 1:39pm
You don't think a teenage girl would need protection from evil flying monkeys and a crazy witch that can shoot fireballs?
Posted: 11/22/15 at 4:17pm
I love me some Mary, but she cannot act. Her face always looks the same....no expression. Tichina arnold or jill scott would have been much better choices for evillene
Posted: 11/22/15 at 5:24pm
Stop what? I am just posting my thoughts on this thread. Nothing wrong with that
Posted: 11/22/15 at 7:39pm
I sat through the god-awful 1978 film version of THE WIZ today. It was horribly, horribly misguided - but it was a hoot and a half! Nipsey Russell, Michael Jackson, Ted Ross and Mabel King are very good in it. Lena Horne chews the scenery with her rendition of "Believe in Yourself". "Everybody Rejoice/A Brand New Day" remains the film's best musical number.
I laughed my ass off through most of the film. As much as I love Diana Ross at the end of the day she had absolutely no business being in this. The film was drastically changed to accommodate her being cast in the role. The movie was originally supposed to be a relatively modestly budgeted production that stayed true to the original show.
20th Century-Fox bankrolled the original Broadway show and they had first dibs on producing the film version, and in fact when the film was first announced they were going to, but then for some reason they lost interest and exercised their first refusal rights. The rights were then picked up by Motown Productions and they in turn got Universal Pictures to bankroll it once Diana Ross expressed interest in the role of Dorothy. By all accounts the movie version of THE WIZ would probably never have gotten made without her involvement.
That it did and that it turned out the way it did is just unfortunate because it isn't a bad show - - - not by a long shot.
Diana Ross' dark, shrill, painful performance is one of the film's biggest detriments and it not only effectively ended her film career but the film's failure made producers shy away from producing any major motion pictures with predominantly black casts until the release of A SOLDIER'S STORY six years later.
Updated On: 11/22/15 at 07:39 PM
