THE WIZ: 2015 NBC LIVE MUSICAL — Page 73

I'm so confused with what they did to Shanice's voice on "We Got It".... it has this bizarre echo and she sounds so faded into the background...

I think the way this show sorted out the racists was extremely helpful.

Danster said: "Unfortunately I came to hate this show with a vengeance. All it did was cause everyone to get his feelings out about race. A musical that simply does not have place for people from a different race, and nowadays almost every show can be interracial including Les Miserables and The Sound of Music. Pity it went this way.

"

Ummm....

This post makes zero sense

I don't like the way brand new day sounds. Imo, this would have been better if it were a live album. Some of the songs sound better live

Liza's Headband said: "So, teddy, now that THE WIZ has ended... What ever will you do with your time?!

"I am still going to post on here and many other threads

I don't know if just that the Spotify version has been overly compressed or something, but the soundtrack sounds really poorly mixed/mastered. The band sounds way too forward/loud and overpowers the vocals. And the vocals, although I thankfully don't hear any obvious autotune, sound... odd? processed? Each individual track seems to have a different issue. Stephanie Mills' vocals sound really compressed on "The Feeling We Once Had." Shanice sounds like they added too much reverb to "Soon As I Get Home." Same with Uzo Aduba's voice on "Believe In Yourself."

The male voices fare better, though.

Besty, you have stated that T Wizard of Oz was in no way political. I do respect your opinion on the fact .However I question it when Mr Baum did in fact opine on political issues of the time. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/10/27/130862391/l-frank-baum-advocated-extermination-of-native-americans

"Besty, you have stated that T Wizard of Oz was in no way political. I do respect your opinion on the fact .However I question it when Mr Baum did in fact opine on political issues of the time."

First of all, I never stated that the Wizard of Oz was in no way political. Quite the opposite. I said he was absolutely influenced by the people and places around him, including his mother-in-law who was a famous suffragette. Please re-read my post before you misquote me or misrepresent my opinion.

And it is just that, an opinion. I added that I discussed the recent editorials claiming all of these hidden political and economic meanings in The Wizard of Oz with two of his great-grandsons, and they refuted it as well, saying basically what I said. He was more influenced by the people and places around him than any hidden political agendas about the Emerald City representing capitalism and the Yellow Brick Road representing the gold standard, etc.

As far as his editorial while he was running a newspaper out in the "wild west," this was years before he moved to Chicago and wrote The Wizard of Oz. He held the unfortunate opinion of many white men who sought to repress and even "eliminate" the Native Americans to preserve their own race. I don't approve of that at all, but I also don't mix it up with his later writings in a children's book. Baum spoke plainly. His writing was always direct and economical. He said what was on his mind. If he wanted to write a political piece, he did so, and if he wanted to write a children's book, he did so. And yes, sometimes his political thoughts and opinions entered into this children's stories, but they did so in a direct way. No hidden meanings. He had an army of women attack and take over the Emerald City in his second Oz book ("The Marvelous Land of Oz" armed with knitting needles as weapons. Of course, this "amusing" plot device was influenced by the strong women in his own household.

He also showed another ugly trait of his era: racism. Check out "Rinkitink in Oz" where he depicts the "Tottenhots" (clearly lampooning the Hottentots of Africa) and although they are savages with scarlet hair, he refers to them as a "lower form of man."

Baum was human, a man, and very definitely a product if his time, influenced by the people and places around him. My comments in the other post addressed him hiding subliminal meanings in everything from the Yellow Brick Road to the poppy field, etc. I don't believe that to be true. I do believe his writing was influenced in a far more direct way by the people, places, and events of his era.

Updated On: 12/12/15 at 07:25 AM

I thought it was supposed to be the live vocals from the telecast? Someone said that's the reason they didn't release it before the telecast.

Interesting that people are commenting on how they prefer the live vocals. At least according to the producer, most of the vocals are from the telecast, with some takes used from the dress rehearsal.

The truth is Blu-ray never caught on. It has beter picture quality, but it came about at the same time that streaming video began to pick up steam, and streaming video is so easy to use. you never have to leave the couch to turn one on. On top of that, Blu-ray movies are typically more expensive than DVDs, people are not interested in paying the extra cost. Because of thsee factors, many people never made the switch from DVD to Blu-ray, and many probably never will. That also means it makes less economic sense to release The Wiz for three different mediums. Since DVDs are backward compatible in Blu-ray players, they know that those wishing to have a hard copy will settle for a DVD, and the rest will buy an Internet based copy. Sadly, I think all hard copies are on their way out, which will have a negative affect on our culture when people in the future are trying to look back on our society. There won't be any hard copies of anything left to study.

Yeah, Blu-rays are a huge industry. I too wish the WIZ was on blu-ray.

I think Its hard to overemphasize the superior picture and audio quality of Blu Ray. Most titles within months have comparable pricing versus DVDs so it makes sense to put the Wiz on Blu Ray. It's not that expensive to produce anymore and music theatre fans would enjoy the quantum leap in quality.