THE WIZ: 2015 NBC LIVE MUSICAL — Page 74

Can someone explain to me why the wiz film is so dark?

To add on to Mr Nowack's comment, the film was directed by Sidney Lumet who was mostly famous for 'gritty' , serious dramatic movies prior to directing The Wiz. Obviously that man had no clue how to direct what was meant to be a light hearted musical...

that and Diana Ross's bugged out, seemingly cracked out performance made for a disaster of a movie.

Mr. Nowack said: "Ross's performance on her solo album of songs form THE WIZ confirms the assertion that she was indeed cracked out during the production of the movie.

"

bwahahaha

Sidney Lumet, John Huston, and Richard Attenborough were three powerhouse, award-winning film directors who managed to completely ruin three mega-hit stage musicals with their heavy-handed, morose, misguided film adaptations. The Wiz, Annie, and A Chorus Line signaled the "worst" era in movie musical history. That's when I thought the film musical had truly died. It wasn't until Little Shop of Horrors came along in 1986 that I had hope again for the genre. After Cabaret in 1972 and (to some degree) Jesus Christ, Superstar in 1973, we entered a bleak period where no one seemed to know what to do with musical material to adapt it for the screen. Then the Ashman-Menken partnership continued with their successful Disney film musicals, and they brought the genre roaring back to life.

Today, film musicals are hit and miss. When they hit, they hit big, but there are still plenty of misfires. I suppose the same could be said of any film genre now. But the "death sentence" has been reprieved on movie musicals. Still, The Wiz was part of a creative desert in those bleak years.

I will say this on its behalf, and I can't believe I'm saying anything on its behalf ... the movie version of The Wiz still had a distinctive African-American cultural style and concept to it, something that was sorely lacking in this generic TV adaptation. I'm all for equality in the world, but equality doesn't mean losing or ignoring one's identity. It means acceptance of that identity, not denial of it. This "Oz" looked and sounded like it had no cultural identity of any kind, something that might not seemingly matter as much with other material, but the whole "point" of The Wiz was its concept that it was an all-black version (not just casting) of The Wizard of Oz. At least the movie got that right, even if it failed on pretty much every other level.

That is because it was "whitewashed" for broadcast television executives.

I'll add I've always thought the concept of Oz as a dystopian land, inspired by the nearly bankrupt and crime-riddled New York, was genius. It definitely gave the film a bleakness, no doubt. But I think it's genius.

For me, it was the unbelievably slow pacing of the film, along with Ross being too old; the central question any story of Oz asks is for us to root for this young girl to "grow up", and Ross' arrested development only seems pathetic. So, no rooting for your lead character, no story.

I hated NY as "Oz." It was horribly misguided, but at least it was a concept with thought behind it and also an African-American perspective on the material, even if the overall choice didn't work for me.

I prefer a creative attempt and failure to no attempt at all.

With no attempt, you don't fail that way, but you also don't succeed either. You do nothing but play it safe.

Updated On: 12/15/15 at 12:36 PM

The Wiz Live! has been nominated for 5 critics choice awards:

Best supporting actress in a made for television movie or miniseries - mary j. blige

Best actress in a made for television movie or miniseries: shanice williams

Best supporting actor in a made for television movie or miniseries: david alan grier and ne-yo

Best movie made for television or miniseries

Congrats to the cast and crew!!! Very well deserved nominations!!!

http://variety.com/2015/film/awards/critics-choice-award-nominations-2016-nominees-full-list-1201660235/

Congrats, Teddy! What role did you play in this broadcast?

Wow Congrats to Shanice Williams. Who would have thought a pitchy amateur could be more successful than Dave? What are the odds?!

It's really nice these performances were recognized.

I'm quite surprised by Blige's nomination. The general consensus was she would be the production's weakest link solely based on rehearsal footage that was used to publicize the broadcast, but she really did come through on the actual telecast.

And Shanice Williams has a very bright future ahead of her.

c0113g3b0y said: "To add on to Mr Nowack's comment, the film was directed by Sidney Lumet who was mostly famous for 'gritty' , serious dramatic movies prior to directing The Wiz. Obviously that man had no clue how to direct what was meant to be a light hearted musical...

that and Diana Ross's bugged out, seemingly cracked out performance made for a disaster of a movie"

I think the movie version could have survived the Lumet gritty NY background if it was anchored in a young girl's adventure. Some of the visuals were interesting though Lumet seemed obsessed in wide angle dance scenes where the characters resembled ants on a huge set, plus Ms. Ross had zero sense of rythym. Her dancing is downright painful to watch.

One of Ms. Ross's biographies points out that she was heavily involved (along with others in the production) with EST therapy, at the time very popular as a consciousness raising method. Plus the movie was her first big outside venture without Berry Gordy's hands on involvement ( They literally came to blows working on " Mahogany".) so it was her independent project, not financed by Motown money.

So while it doesn't excuse the weird adult school teacher trying to find her inner confidence/home as the movie's main storyline structure, it helps explain why it appealed to Ms. Ross.

I think another important factor in why the film turned out the way it did was Joel Schumacher's cult-influenced script. From Wikipedia:

Joel Schumacher's script for The Wiz was influenced by Werner Erhard's teachings and his Erhard Seminars Training ("est" movement, as both Schumacher and Diana Ross were "very enamored of Werner Erhard".[11] "Before I knew it," said Rob Cohen, "the movie was becoming an est-ian fable full of est buzzwords about knowing who you are and sharing and all that. I hated the script a lot. But it was hard to argue with [Ross] because she was recognizing in this script all of this stuff that she had worked out in est seminars."[11] Schumacher spoke positively of the results of the est training, stating that he was "eternally grateful for learning that I was responsible for my life."[11] However, he also complained that "everybody stayed exactly the way they were and went around spouting all this bull****."[11] Of est and Erhard references in the film itself, The Grove Book of Hollywood notes that the speech delivered by Glinda the Good Witch at the end of the film was "a litany of est-like platitudes", and the book also makes est comparisons to the song "Believe in Yourself".