Posted: 12/6/15 at 2:47am
Mr. Nowack said: "Wait Teddy never voiced his opinion?? He really was nothing but a shill.
"Check page 65. I did voice my opinion. I thought it was fantastic. It was a major improvement over the other live musicals. This was well done. And don't you ever call me a shill. I am not a shill.
Updated On: 12/6/15 at 02:47 AM
Posted: 12/6/15 at 2:53am
Mr. Nowack said: "Wait Teddy never voiced his opinion?? He really was nothing but a shill."
Least shocking revelation on this thread!
Posted: 12/6/15 at 2:53am
teddy1996 said: "Check page 65. I did voice my opinion. I thought it was fantastic. It was a major improvement over the other live musicals. This was well done. And don't you ever call me a shill. I am not a shill."
Spoke too soon, I guess he did comment. Still seems like a shill though.
Updated On: 12/6/15 at 02:53 AM
Posted: 12/6/15 at 3:40pm
I respect the fact that they wanted to venture in a new direction and hire a choreographer outside of the musical theatre world. After witnessing her work, I was just left uninspired. There is a reason specific choreographers work in the world of musical theatre, because they clearly understand how to tell a story through movement. I am tired of the idea that anyone can work in musical theatre.
The choreography lacked structure, substance, creativity and most of all heart. That is the most important thing in this show, heart. I also felt the directing/acting lacked honesty and intention. Part of the issue was the script. I am not sure why so many scripts are being rewritten/modified to be more "current." Cinderella was a great example of that. I'm just not a fan of these "sassy" rewrites. The Wiz felt very much in that realm.
For such an imaginative story, I felt the entire production lacked imagination and creativity. The costumes were about the only thing I felt had a strong artistic vision. The set was supposed to represent Dorothy's dream. To me the set felt like any old production of The Wizard of Oz. If we are escaping into her dream, let's do just that. Why did they not utilize more of Cirques artistic team. Cirque knows exactly how to create a dream like world through every aspect of a production. I felt that Cirque was completely underutilized in this production. They were almost an afterthought.
In my opinion, I would love to see Cirque take the reins on the Broadway production and claim it as their own. They know how to transport audiences into a fully imaginative world. Nothing about The Wiz felt successful in terms of transporting us into Dorothy's dream. I hope for Broadway they scrap the set design and start over. Get rid of the LED screens, they may be newer to the musical theatre world but they are not a new thing if anyone has ever been to a concert.
I would love to see individuals like Diane Paulus, Mia Michaels, Wayne Cilento, Julie Taymor or Joe Mantello get there hands on this material. Add in a team of designers from Cirque du Soleil and I think the end result could be something quite incredible. There is a reason Wicked is still running today. Every aspect of that production did completely what it needed to do. And surprisingly, it still feels incredible fresh today.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 3:46pm
Theater_Nerd said: "Thank you so much uncageg. Do you know who the cutie is on the right?
Sorry Theater_Nerd, I don't.
"
Posted: 12/6/15 at 3:55pm
Liza's Headband said:
Just to note for the record: I imagine it sounded that way because roughly 90% of the ensemble vocals were pre-recorded by the Broadway Inspirational Voices. The ensemble was singing with them but still... they clearly had a ton of help.
Uncageg said 
idn't know the Inspirational Voices were involved! They all still sounded good Recorded and live.
Liza, I spoke with my friend who sings with the Inspirational Voices and was told they actually only used a handful of people from the choir for this production. So not sure the ensemble had a "ton" of help. And by handful I think around 10. I forget the actual number but it was small.
"
"
Posted: 12/6/15 at 4:38pm
In regard to Broadway Inspirational Voices being mixed with the ensemble vocals to fill out, that is more than standard practice with The Wiz, the show opened on Broadway featuring several Pit Singers to I ken the vocals on stage. There is nothing notable in that here.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 4:50pm
Broadwayguy2, I am aware of that. I saw the oiginal and like that they did it with this broadcasT. I was responding to something specifically about the Inspirational Voices.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 5:39pm
DancinMan --- I great with quite a lot of what you said. We have very similar impressions of the choreography and the underutilization of Cirque. And the book.
Minor quibbles re-watching it now:
Why does Ne-Yo almost always either look at the floor or close his eyes. He rarely makes eye contact with anyone. That was a simple directorial note he could have received. It's kinda weird and amateurish. And the camera is almost always literally on the floor under him trying to catch his eyes when they open (and stare at the floor). Very odd.
A lot of the dance moves look like they were created for a cheerleading squad.
Someone should have told Queen Latifah that the "t" in "whistle" is silent. She sings, "It will whistle on the wind as it emanates from me." Oy.
Updated On: 12/6/15 at 05:39 PM
Posted: 12/6/15 at 8:44pm
Uncageg, I did not mean for that to seem directed at you... It was a general response to statements here and elsewhere critical of singers being used to thicken the ensemble vocals.
best, the new book drove me bonkers. I don't feel that Fierstein trusted the material... and the choreography was the most disappointing physical element to me.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 9:12pm
Anyone know what happened to Uzo's orignal wig?
Posted: 12/6/15 at 9:34pm
Also to anyone wondering why they didn't release the soundtrack in tandem with the broadcast, it's the actual soundtrack i.e. the vocals sung live, so it needs to be processed for record before they can release it.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 9:34pm
I suspect that they changed her wig in response to the criticisms being made that some of the costumes weren't afro-centric.
I also suspect The Winkies' original costumes for the "Everybody Rejoice" number were changed in response to comments made that they looked like candy corn.
I believe that people connected with the production were definitely reading all the theater related websites and taking all comments into consideration and making whatever changes they deemed necessary.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 9:39pm
I loved her original wig. I thought it looked gorgeous. Are you sure about the soundtrack being recorded live? They already released Home as a single and in the commercials it's clear they had recorded versions. I just assumed they had already pre recorded and we're waiting to release it.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 9:50pm
Mr. Nowack said: "Also to anyone wondering why they didn't release the soundtrack in tandem with the broadcast, it's the actual soundtrack i.e. the vocals sung live, so it needs to be processed for record before they can release it."
Is this something they're doing new for The Wiz? Because the Sound of Music soundtrack was released two days before the telecast.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 10:01pm
ljay889 said: "Mr. Nowack said: "Also to anyone wondering why they didn't release the soundtrack in tandem with the broadcast, it's the actual soundtrack i.e. the vocals sung live, so it needs to be processed for record before they can release it."
Is this something they're doing new for The Wiz? Because the Sound of Music soundtrack was released two days before the telecast. "
It's weird that they are releasing the soundtrack 8 days after the broadcast. I'm sure that the soundtrack versions were recorded prior to the live broadcast.
Having that ad after the broadcast proclaiming that the soundtrack was "now available" was extremely misleading and just added to the confusion.
Updated On: 12/6/15 at 10:01 PM
Posted: 12/6/15 at 10:15pm
I believe they did the same with the PETER PAN LIVE recording, most of the vocal tracks sound raw as if right from the live broadcast. But I do wonder what they're doing with THE WIZ since they released a studio version of Shanice's rendition of "Home" a few days before the broadcast as well, wonder if they pre-recorded all the songs.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 11:29pm
As much as i loved this production, there were a couple of things that bothered me. I didn't like how they changed the winged monkeys name to the winged warriors. I felt that this production should have been at least 6 minutes longer. There should have been dialogue between the tin man, scarecrow, and dorothy when they were in the forest before the lion made his entrance. That part felt a little rushed to me. I also felt that a rested body is a rested mind should have been in this. It is a great way to introduce glinda and it gives her more to sing. Uzo would have done a great job with that song. The tornado scene was great but i wished it was a tiny bit longer. Same goes to the emerald city ballet. Their were a few tiny mistakes but overall, it was still a very well done production.
Updated On: 12/6/15 at 11:29 PM
Posted: 12/6/15 at 11:33pm
THE SOUND OF MUSIC was recorded well in advance as a studio recording (as was done for the '50s broadcasts that production was meant to emulate) in order to be released before the actual telecast.
PETER PAN was suposed to be the vocals as sung live on the telecast, though I have not heard it to compare if it was or not. It's possible they could have gone into the studio to sweeten the vocals they deemed iffy.
THE WIZ is supposed to be in the vein of PETER PAN though as with that one its possible they could go into the studio to fix up any imperfections.
All three broadcasts had their orchestral arrangements pre-recorded however.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 11:54pm
Teddy makes me think of something else that irked me. The Broadcast isn't even run till 11:00 so WHY did they deem it necessary to cut entire short numbers? Especially "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Rested Body" which both occur in the plot-light second half.
Posted: 12/7/15 at 12:22am
The soundtrack to The Wiz uses the vocals from the live production which NBC did with Peter Pan last year, I don't know why you guys are so surprised. The production was December 4th last year and the album was released 12-16. Just because they recorded some studio versions for advertisements doesn't mean they ever intended to release them (other than Home) for the album.
Posted: 12/7/15 at 9:02am
I really wish they would have included Rested Body. It's not everyday you get a proshot of The Wiz.
Posted: 12/7/15 at 4:16pm
It's not uncommon for revivals (and that's exactly what The Wiz Live was) to cut songs, so IDK why people are so upset about it.
Posted: 12/7/15 at 4:38pm
I think most people are upset because we like those songs and they haven't ever been recorded.
