The WIZ LIVE : post your comments and thoughts live during the show here — Page 10

I loved the Scarecrow's mask!

Though i did not care for the reference in the changes in the book such as overusing "throwing shade" or representin', you have to give Fierstein credit for raising the issues about a white guy rewriting the script. He initially refused and was informed that the original book WAS written by a white guy, so he took it on. I thought the costumes and performances were outstanding.  Each Actor nailed their parts and songs.  

Hamilton22 said: "I forgot how terrible The Wiz score is. There are some gems but dang that score is just awful. 

And I'm sure you think the score of "Legally Blonde" is wonderful.

"

So...does that mean you can't feel a brand new day? 

The Wiz (An Incomplete History): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox2gY0e206Y&feature=youtu.be

http://tvline.com/2015/12/04/the-wiz-live-ratings-nbc/

Better than Peter Pan not as good as Sound of Music

I never saw the original production (despite hearing some of the songs and seeing the performance on the Tony Awards back then) so I have to judge the show on what I saw last night.  And what I saw last night didn't impress me that much.  The score is okay ("Ease On Down the Road", "Brand New Day", "Be a Lion", "Home", and "No Bad News" being the highlights).  The script was simplistic and seemed to just hit the same scenes as the Judy Garland movie, albeit in a different way.  The opening scene in Kansas was so short I did not see why Dorothy was unhappy except for saying "I hate school", "I hate this farm" or "I miss my parents" before she was wisked away by the tornado.  She came across as a sullen kid.  Why would I care what happens to her?

The actors, for the most part, were fine and had good voices.  The young lady who played Dorothy has a knockout voice that came through on her last song.  Ne-Yo had an interesting take on the Tin Man but I had trouble understanding his lines (lots of mumbling).  Common was a stiff (even if he was playing a bored doorman).  Amber Riley seemed to be having fun.  The actors playing the Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion were buried under so much makeup that I was uncomfortable watching them.  Mary J. Blige was very loud but looked lost.  Stephanie Mills was lovely.

I enjoyed some of the dancing and the use of flying actors (particularly in the crow scene).  But the tornado transition was weak as was Dorothy and the guys being captured by the monkeys.  The opening dance scene at Oz was terrible.  The giant Wizard head looked cool but was very clunky.  The Munchkin costumes were fun (as were their chipmunk voices and waddling) but their scene (as were others) felt like they were under-populating a large soundstage.

I think one of the problems with doing a live show on TV is the lack of an audience, but more importantly, the constant commercial breaks.  On stage, a story flows from one scene to another without stopping (except for the intermission).  On the big screen, a story is edited but there are no breaks to interrupt the mood or continuity.  On the small screen, those commercials  interrupt the story for several minutes, thus creating short little scenes that destroy any sense of immersive storytelling.  Maybe the show would feel different if the commercials weren't there but, honestly, I have no interest in watching this again.

Updated On: 12/4/15 at 10:37 AM

While I think it was miles above the others - there were some problems and most of them had to do with pacing and length.

I'm interested to see how many people stayed with the program throughout the whole showing and who decided to bail.

Interesting that for the upcoming Broadway revival that is based on last night's broadcast they went for a completely different look and title treatment. This logo actually reminds me of the one used for the film.

How did NBC handle the time zone issue? Did they replay it for the West coast, or did the cast do the show live twice? 

11 million viewers. Not as much as the Sound of Music, but up a lot from last year.

I beat you to it Liza!

1.5 million people isn't a lot?