I am going to say spoiler in regards to the wiz being a man or women, but they said what the wiz is in the making of special so I am not really giving anything away
In the making of the wiz special they said the the wiz is a women pretending to be a man. They discover this after they kill the witch.
Blidge looks amazing! Her voice, vocals and movements are great too I just wish she'd use more facial expression. Aside from that she is killing it in a good way!
Started with some ROUGH scenes and tehnical production, and the sets are aesthetically wimpy. And the updated book is actually MORE hokey and obviously out-of-touch (these references), and I'm not sold on any of the thematic stuff being shoehorned in.
But. The cast is EXCELLENT, and they are killing it. It has gotten a lot better as it goes along. Every actor who comes on is bringing it. Was skepitcal about Mary J. Blige, but she owned her big scene and number just now. And she made me laugh sincerely for the first time tonight.
Am I the only one a bit let down by David Alan Grier? He can be such an animated character actor, but I feel like the costume and makeup is literally weighing him down tonight.
You're reminding me of people you hear at the movies asking questions every ten seconds, "Who is that? Why is that guy walking down the street? Who's that lady coming up to him? Uh-oh, why did that car go by? Why is it so dark in this theater?" - FindingNamo on strummergirl
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
"Am I the only one a bit let down by David Alan Grier? He can be such an animated character actor, but I feel like the costume and makeup is literally weighing him down tonight."
The cast is good. The tech sucks: camera, sound, etc. The lack of a live audience is making it flat. Harvey's script is awful. Cirque is underwhelming... but, that last number was great.
It really is a mixed bag.
ARTc3 formerly ARTc. Actually been a poster since 2004. My name isn't Art. Drop the "3" and say the signature and you'll understand.
I'm not having any sound problems, but the camera work is driving me crazy. They have a full stage of dancers and they keep zooming in on just a couple at a time. Give us the full stage shots!
I love most of the singing. Amber Riley killed the song and I loved hearing Stephanie Mills again. Neo was awesome in If I Could Feel and I loved Mary J. The Can You Feel A Brand New Day scene was great. I'm glad they stayed true to the original factory-looking scene. I do love the dancing from The Wiz from Diana Ross's version however.
I turned off about 30 minutes ago after we became bored. Not sure if the problem were the commercials, but then again we had commercials last year. My kids hated it.
Good set of performers and very energetic, tough the problem is definitely the piece. Except for ease on down the road the music leave something to be desired.