The Wiz

[dcguy20]

I watched it last night, and it was probably the best executed "live" musical out of the three presented by NBC so far. I have come to the conclusion that this format is somewhat stilted.

 

Although the cast was quite strong, the evening did not come alive for me until "Brand New Day". It was at that point where everyone seemed to relax.

[MrMiniver]

A well-executed production of a completely mediocre and forgettable musical.

[bostonman]

I think it started out strong (I feel that Stephanie Mills' "The Feeling We Once Had" was one of the highlights of the evening), and that for the most part, the singing was good throughout (some quibbles, but not that many). Shanice Williams as Dorothy sang quite well (much better than what I was led to believe from the "Making Of" special shown before Thanksgiving), but this is the 3rd time out of 3 now that NBC has cast an inexperienced actress in the leading role - and they really have to stop doing that. All in all she was better than either Allison Williams' joyless Peter Pan or Carrie Underwood's earnest but stiff Maria von Trapp - but the only times Shanice ever really seemed engaged in the show was when she was singing.

 

The cast, vocally, was stronger all-around than in the previous NBC live attempts. Amber Riley's Addaperle ("He's The Wiz") - very fun. Mary J. Blige's "No Bad News" Evilene - excellent. Queen Latifah's Wizard wasn't as powerhouse as I would have wanted - IMO the key for "So You Wanted To Meet The Wizard" was too low for her to really soar with - but hey, at least she could sing it, which famously, Richard Pryor in the film couldn't (he declaimed the first line and that was the end of the song...ugh). Dorothy's 3 iconic friends all did great with their songs (I missed the original Scarecrow song from the stage musical - they used the film's "You Can't Win" instead, but Elijah Kelley made a good case for it). Uzo Aduba only got to sing one of Glinda's songs, the iconic "If You Believe," and I was afraid she wouldn't make it through to the end (this time the key was too high, perhaps?) - but she did. And I'll mention it again - what a great pleasure to hear the original Dorothy, Stephanie Mills, taking Aunt Em's opening song and knocking it out of the park.

 

Harvey Fierstein took a book (originally by William F. Brown in 1974) that I've always felt was kind of an odd ragged patchwork of corny jokes, topical references, and a sort of lame fractured-fairy-tale version of the classic story, without much plot development or heart - and turned it into - well - a newly revised odd ragged patchwork of corny jokes, topical references, and a sort of lame fractured-fairy-tale version of the classic story, without much plot development or heart. By the time we got to the Emerald City, I felt we were watching a badly-paced soap opera (or, perhaps, a bad, preachy ABC Afterschool Special), with which the songs were the only respite. Though, I did like the new twist on Dorothy's backstory - that the concept of "home" was more ambiguous, and her realization at the end wasn't so much about leaving Oz behind than it was about learning to accept living with Aunt Em as "Home," rather than Omaha where she grew up, and lost her parents. Which led to one of the best new lines of dialogue, when the Wizard pointed out (and I paraphrase) "how can you go home if you don't know where home is?"

 

So - I guess my opinion is halfway between dcguy20 and the always cheery Mr. Miniver lol - I do think it was in many ways the best one of these things that NBC has turned out - and they did show us what the strength of the piece has always been - the excellent score by Charlie Smalls (and Luther Vandross, who added in the infectious "Everybody Rejoice"). They did cut a few songs (and substitute the Scarecrow's song from the film instead), but for the most part we heard a nicely revitalized, powerfully sung performance of the score.

 

And, on that subject - when NBC first announced they would do The Wiz, I was afraid that they would try too hard to update the sound of the original 1974 score (orchestrations by the always wonderful Harold Wheeler), with the temptation to hip-hop it up, etc. I was so glad that they didn't do that after all. The insanely talented Broadway orchestrator Stephen Oremus (Avenue Q, The Book Of Mormon, Wicked, Kinky Boots, etc) DID do a lot of creative rethinking, but kept the sense of the original score very much intact. (The new "Earth Wind And Fire"-style brass writing was wonderful.) Not a slavish adherence to the original, but not a needless "contemporary rewrite" either. A joy to hear. (Oremus, by the way, plays for "our team" as well - he is married to Broadway actor Justin Bohon.)

[geminibear]

Or you could have watched this crazy finish on Thursday night football:

 

Packers vs. Lions: Score and Twitter Reaction for 'Thursday Night Football'

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2595641-packers-vs-lions-score-and-twitter-reaction-for-thursday-night-football

 

[+ sam.fitzpatrick]

Or you could have watched this crazy finish on Thursday night football:

 

Last night I watched the game and had the DVR set to record The Wiz. I really enjoyed the production better than the previous two. I do think a live audience might also help.

 

It will be interesting to see how Fox handles Grease.

[RyanDean]

Thanks, Bostonman. Yours is the most clarifying review of The Wiz Live that I've encountered.

[+ WilliamM]

....but this is the 3rd time out of 3 now that NBC has cast an inexperienced actress in the leading role - and they really have to stop doing that

 

It was particularly true in "Peter Pan." Much of the musical takes place in Neverland. One would need an extraordinary young person with charisma to put across the Neverland scenes, which seem to me underwritten.

[bostonman]

It was particularly true in "Peter Pan." Much of the musical takes place in Neverland. One would need an extraordinary young person with chrisma to put across the Neverland scenes, which seem to me underwritten.

 

For me it was the double whammy of Williams and Walken. I have to admit I've never watched the entire broadcast. There was a point in the first Neverland scene where Walken (who was already giving a very odd, uninvolved performance) was clearly struggling with lines - and at that point I just...couldn't...take...any...more. (And I imagine this was also a real slap in the face to Christian Borle, who was stuck playing Smee opposite Walken. Borle was by all accounts a marvelous "Black Stache" - i.e. Captain Hook - in Peter And The Starcatcher - him playing Hook for this TV version would have been a no-brainer. And much more fun,)

 

Zadan and Meron have now gone on record saying that they shouldn't have done Peter Pan, as the material "has overstayed its welcome." I don't know that I agree. Yes, there have been, quite recently, some new adaptations of the story on film and onstage - but I think they're overlooking the fact that the show is simply untenable without both Peter Pan AND Captain Hook - and they had neither. I think it's very revealing that they would rather blame the material than their own terrible casting.

[+ WilliamM]

For me it was the double whammy of Williams and Walken. I have to admit I've never watched the entire broadcast. There was a point in the first Neverland scene where Walken (who was already giving a very odd, uninvolved performance) was clearly struggling with lines - and at that point I just...couldn't...take...any...more.

 

- but I think they're overlooking the fact that the show is simply untenable without both Peter Pan AND Captain Hook - and they had neither. I think it's very revealing that they would rather blame the material than their own terrible casting.

 

I recently watched the live Martin-Ritchard 1955 version on DVD. Even undrstanding that the musical was written specifically for Martin, the two stars were totally engaged in their respective roles. They had the advantage of doing the musical on Broadway first.

 

It may be only my opinion, but I bet Zadan and Meron would have replaced Martin and Ritchard in 1955 for younger performers.

[actor61]

I think it started out strong (I feel that Stephanie Mills' "The Feeling We Once Had" was one of the highlights of the evening), and that for the most part, the singing was good throughout (some quibbles, but not that many). Shanice Williams as Dorothy sang quite well (much better than what I was led to believe from the "Making Of" special shown before Thanksgiving), but this is the 3rd time out of 3 now that NBC has cast an inexperienced actress in the leading role - and they really have to stop doing that. All in all she was better than either Allison Williams' joyless Peter Pan or Carrie Underwood's earnest but stiff Maria von Trapp - but the only times Shanice ever really seemed engaged in the show was when she was singing.

 

The cast, vocally, was stronger all-around than in the previous NBC live attempts. Amber Riley's Addaperle ("He's The Wiz") - very fun. Mary J. Blige's "No Bad News" Evilene - excellent. Queen Latifah's Wizard wasn't as powerhouse as I would have wanted - IMO the key for "So You Wanted To Meet The Wizard" was too low for her to really soar with - but hey, at least she could sing it, which famously, Richard Pryor in the film couldn't (he declaimed the first line and that was the end of the song...ugh). Dorothy's 3 iconic friends all did great with their songs (I missed the original Scarecrow song from the stage musical - they used the film's "You Can't Win" instead, but Elijah Kelley made a good case for it). Uzo Aduba only got to sing one of Glinda's songs, the iconic "If You Believe," and I was afraid she wouldn't make it through to the end (this time the key was too high, perhaps?) - but she did. And I'll mention it again - what a great pleasure to hear the original Dorothy, Stephanie Mills, taking Aunt Em's opening song and knocking it out of the park.

 

Harvey Fierstein took a book (originally by William F. Brown in 1974) that I've always felt was kind of an odd ragged patchwork of corny jokes, topical references, and a sort of lame fractured-fairy-tale version of the classic story, without much plot development or heart - and turned it into - well - a newly revised odd ragged patchwork of corny jokes, topical references, and a sort of lame fractured-fairy-tale version of the classic story, without much plot development or heart. By the time we got to the Emerald City, I felt we were watching a badly-paced soap opera (or, perhaps, a bad, preachy ABC Afterschool Special), with which the songs were the only respite. Though, I did like the new twist on Dorothy's backstory - that the concept of "home" was more ambiguous, and her realization at the end wasn't so much about leaving Oz behind than it was about learning to accept living with Aunt Em as "Home," rather than Omaha where she grew up, and lost her parents. Which led to one of the best new lines of dialogue, when the Wizard pointed out (and I paraphrase) "how can you go home if you don't know where home is?"

 

So - I guess my opinion is halfway between dcguy20 and the always cheery Mr. Miniver lol - I do think it was in many ways the best one of these things that NBC has turned out - and they did show us what the strength of the piece has always been - the excellent score by Charlie Smalls (and Luther Vandross, who added in the infectious "Everybody Rejoice"). They did cut a few songs (and substitute the Scarecrow's song from the film instead), but for the most part we heard a nicely revitalized, powerfully sung performance of the score.

 

And, on that subject - when NBC first announced they would do The Wiz, I was afraid that they would try too hard to update the sound of the original 1974 score (orchestrations by the always wonderful Harold Wheeler), with the temptation to hip-hop it up, etc. I was so glad that they didn't do that after all. The insanely talented Broadway orchestrator Stephen Oremus (Avenue Q, The Book Of Mormon, Wicked, Kinky Boots, etc) DID do a lot of creative rethinking, but kept the sense of the original score very much intact. (The new "Earth Wind And Fire"-style brass writing was wonderful.) Not a slavish adherence to the original, but not a needless "contemporary rewrite" either. A joy to hear. (Oremus, by the way, plays for "our team" as well - he is married to Broadway actor Justin Bohon.)

I really, really admire your positive attitude and very astute analysis of "The Wiz", "Pan" and "Music" and I wish I could be as impartial and enthusiastic as you but I can't. I think, quite honestly and without remorse, that all 3 productions were appallingly bad. It's the casting. It's the casting. It's the casting. I know that many people have made the argument that these live presentations are introducing young audiences to some of the classic pieces of American musical theatre but what's the point of introducing them so badly?! I've been in better dinner theatre productions of musicals than what NBC has spent millions on in the last 3 years!

 

You state that the show kind of came alive for you when they performed "Everybody Rejoice" and I suppose that it did have some energy and a little joy but just because you have dancers doing aeriels and flips across the stage doesn't mean it's good choreography. I remember well the original B'way production and that number took the roof off the theatre. I don't argue with making The Wiz a woman but Latifah was atrocious. The songs were in the wrong keys for her, and her energy was way too low to make any of the dialogue funny or touching. Why oh why oh why did they put in the dreadful Scarecrow number from the dreadful movie instead of using the original???? I still remember Hinton Battle performing the original song in 1975 with awe. He was astounding and the moment when he realizes in the number that he can stand on his own feet - AND DANCE - was unforgettable.

 

I wish I could like these productions. I really do. I've made my living in musical theatre for the past 40 years. I sit down every year to watch them with hope in my heart but unless they figure out how to cast, direct, choreograph and produce these shows with the right "stars" in the right roles, their audience is going to turn them off with a weary sigh halfway through the programs just as I did. I would love to have sat in the casting sessions when somebody said, "Wouldn't Carrie Underwood be just PERFECT as Maria?" or "Alison Williams is so fresh and charming, and Walken is ideal for Hook." Underwood couldn't act, Williams couldn't charm and Walken couldn't even remember his lines.

 

Sigh.

[bostonman]

You state that the show kind of came alive for you when they performed "Everybody Rejoice"

 

Actually, I didn't, lol. I only said that the Luther Vandross song is infectious.

 

And in fact I'd throw in two more criticisms of that number as it was done in this version. One was the costuming. (They all stripped down to those bare-bones yellow things - it looked like they were in matching rehearsal clothes.) The other was the obviously pre-recorded choral vocals (it's bad enough that, as we learned back when they did Sound Of Music, that they're performing to recorded orchestra tracks). The actors "onstage" were indeed singing the solos, etc, but when the full company came in, we heard that "homogenized" sound of a prerecorded studio group - and it just took all of the "live" out of it for me. generally when this is done in stage shows (and it is), they call it "sweetening" the sound - the effect of gently padding the onstage forces with extra voices to give the effect of a bigger ensemble. But in this case the prerecorded track was so prevalent that it was more like having a cup of sugar with a little bit of coffee in it (to use the "sweetening" metaphor), instead of the other way around, lol. Took me right out of the song.

 

(Comparing to the original production, btw - I don't know if any sweetening was done, but of course there was a small group of singers either in the pit or elsewhere, providing backup vocals throughout the score - something that was also done to great effect in shows like Promises Promises and Company. Also, A Chorus Line used the dancers cut in the opening scene to provide offstage miked voices for the rest of the ensembles in the show. But in all these cases, those singers were LIVE. HUGE difference.)

 

And yes, I agree, of course, about the casting. But this is nothing new for Zadan/Meron productions - they often get that completely wrong. I still can't quite wrap my head around the choice of Matthew Broderick as Harold Hill.

[Brian Kevin]

I enjoyed The Wiz. I was multitasking watching it, so I am sure I missed getting involved with it

[actor61]

Actually, I didn't, lol. I only said that the Luther Vandross song is infectious.

 

And in fact I'd throw in two more criticisms of that number as it was done in this version. One was the costuming. (They all stripped down to those bare-bones yellow things - it looked like they were in matching rehearsal clothes.) The other was the obviously pre-recorded choral vocals (it's bad enough that, as we learned back when they did Sound Of Music, that they're performing to recorded orchestra tracks). The actors "onstage" were indeed singing the solos, etc, but when the full company came in, we heard that "homogenized" sound of a prerecorded studio group - and it just took all of the "live" out of it for me. generally when this is done in stage shows (and it is), they call it "sweetening" the sound - the effect of gently padding the onstage forces with extra voices to give the effect of a bigger ensemble. But in this case the prerecorded track was so prevalent that it was more like having a cup of sugar with a little bit of coffee in it (to use the "sweetening" metaphor), instead of the other way around, lol. Took me right out of the song.

 

(Comparing to the original production, btw - I don't know if any sweetening was done, but of course there was a small group of singers either in the pit or elsewhere, providing backup vocals throughout the score - something that was also done to great effect in shows like Promises Promises and Company. Also, A Chorus Line used the dancers cut in the opening scene to provide offstage miked voices for the rest of the ensembles in the show. But in all these cases, those singers were LIVE. HUGE difference.)

 

And yes, I agree, of course, about the casting. But this is nothing new for Zadan/Meron productions - they often get that completely wrong. I still can't quite wrap my head around the choice of Matthew Broderick as Harold Hill.

Oh lord, I love discussing this with you!!! I had forgotten about Broderick in "Music Man". Crappy, crappy crappy and boring too. He had that big eyed, vacant stare he gets all through it. Quite honestly, I thought he was pretty boring in "The Producers" as well but the big eyed, vacant stare worked a little better in that one.

 

As for sweetening, you are absolutely right. I first did "A Chorus Line" in the late 1970s and was the "boy with the headband" in the opening number, after which I repaired to what was called "the booth" and sang back-up vocals for the ensemble numbers. I loved doing that almost more than actually being on the line for some silly reason. Eventually, I played Bobby for a very long time, and was very glad that we had back-up voices, especially during "One" on 2 show days!!! But as you point out, the voices doing the sweetening were live and that is important to acknowledge.

 

Back to "The Wiz" The other night, when I saw the dancers strip down to the yellow costumes in "Everybody Rejoice" and then saw further that some of them were wearing sweat shirts wrapped around their waists as a lot of dancers do in class and rehearsals, I realized that as far as I was concerned, the show had "jumped the shark".

 

I thought the most glaring fault in the production was the complete gliding over of "moments", and that was certainly due to lousy direction. The Wiz leaving Oz, for instance, was just thrown away. Latifah kind of waved from the fake balloon and it was over. The evil witch's prisoners shedding their drab garb for the stupid yellow garb before "Everybody Rejoice" just looked like a bunch of kids taking off wet clothes in a corner of the cloakroom. There was no revelation that they were free. No joy in being released from their bondage. They just peeled off a layer, kicked it into a corner and kind of danced for a minute. Finally, Dorothy's return to Aunt Em at the end was so hasty that I thought maybe they had run out of time.

 

I'd really like your opinion on why the NBC shows are cast so horribly. Do Zadan/Meron REALLY think they are hiring the best people? Or are they cynically going after ratings numbers and consciously sacrificing quality for larger audiences? I mean, even THEY must have realized halfway through rehearsals that Underwood was barely giving a high-school-spring-musical quality performance as Maria. Watching 2 Tony winning pros like Bernanti and Borle wipe the stage with her in their supporting roles was the only delight I found in the entire production. And parenthetically, you can't tell me that rewriting the line for Audra MacDonald to "Oh, Maria, what is it you cannot face?" from the infamous, "Oh Maria, what is it you cunt face?" wasn't on purpose!!!

 

I can understand - kind of - giving Alison Williams Peter Pan but who ever thought that Walken was even remotely right for Hook? Borle was the logical choice and should have played it, especially after doing such good work in a thankless role in "Music". We got a tantalizing taste of what his Hook in "Peter Pan" could have been from his few scenes as Mr. Darling and he should have been allowed to continue the tradition of playing Darling/Hook. THEN, we'd have had a shot at a decent production.

 

To get back to "The Wiz", what I thought was the most glaring fault in the production is the complete gliding over of "moments". The Wiz leaving Oz, for instance, was just thrown away. Latifah kind of waved from the fake balloon and it was over. The evil witch's prisoners shedding their drab garb for the stupid yellow garb before "Everybody Rejoice" just looked like a bunch of kids taking off wet clothes in a corner of the cloakroom. Dorothy's return to Aunt Em at the end was so hasty that I thought maybe they had run out of time.

 

As my musical theatre students said yesterday when we discussed the broadcast, "it was like kinda shitty."

[bostonman]

Were you, then, part of the NY run of Chorus Line? That's awesome.

 

I didn't get to see it until I was in high school, on a field trip - It was either 1980 or 81. I think a lot of theatre people have said "that show changed my life" lol - but for me I feel it really did. As a young pianist who was already a huge opera fan and starting to do musicals, it really spoke to my wanting to be in the biz at whatever cost. (I luckily didn't have the broken family background of the characters in "At The Ballet," but I sure could relate to the idea of performing as my emotional escape - that song still brings me to tears.) I also still remember how I felt on the bus ride back to Connecticut that night - most of the kids may had just seen a famous show, and that's that - but I really was affected by the ending - realizing all too well that all of this intense emotional drama in the audition was all about simply getting an anonymous role in the chorus - something that I feel people often overlook in the show. It really moved me. (And, in an age when I was just on my way out of the closet, it was affirming to see gay characters onstage - and of course Paul's monologue also moved me to tears.)

 

I've been a musical director, professionally, for almost 30 years, and I have yet to ever play or MD Chorus Line. I hope I get to do it one of these days.

 

And yes, I'm waiting to hear what my musical theatre students feel about The Wiz as well. And I bet they won't be as kind as I was lol.

[MrMiniver]

For me it was the double whammy of Williams and Walken. I have to admit I've never watched the entire broadcast. There was a point in the first Neverland scene where Walken (who was already giving a very odd, uninvolved performance) was clearly struggling with lines - and at that point I just...couldn't...take...any...more. (And I imagine this was also a real slap in the face to Christian Borle, who was stuck playing Smee opposite Walken. Borle was by all accounts a marvelous "Black Stache" - i.e. Captain Hook - in Peter And The Starcatcher - him playing Hook for this TV version would have been a no-brainer. And much more fun,)

 

Zadan and Meron have now gone on record saying that they shouldn't have done Peter Pan, as the material "has overstayed its welcome." I don't know that I agree. Yes, there have been, quite recently, some new adaptations of the story on film and onstage - but I think they're overlooking the fact that the show is simply untenable without both Peter Pan AND Captain Hook - and they had neither. I think it's very revealing that they would rather blame the material than their own terrible casting.

 

I never made it through the whole thing either. Allison Williams was absolutely atrocious, no charisma, no stage presence. I don't get that casting at all (well, of course, I do, she's disgraced Brian Williams' daughter). I expected Walken to liven things up but he seemed to be phoning it in from some other universe.

 

I thought Sound of Music was bad, but Peter Pan was a whole other level of awful. Zadan and Meron are really a couple of sad, untalented hacks. The material hasn't "overstayed its welcome." That's what you say when you don't understand the material and don't cast it right.

[MrMiniver]

I really, really admire your positive attitude and very astute analysis of "The Wiz", "Pan" and "Music" and I wish I could be as impartial and enthusiastic as you but I can't. I think, quite honestly and without remorse, that all 3 productions were appallingly bad. It's the casting. It's the casting. It's the casting. I know that many people have made the argument that these live presentations are introducing young audiences to some of the classic pieces of American musical theatre but what's the point of introducing them so badly?! I've been in better dinner theatre productions of musicals than what NBC has spent millions on in the last 3 years!

 

You state that the show kind of came alive for you when they performed "Everybody Rejoice" and I suppose that it did have some energy and a little joy but just because you have dancers doing aeriels and flips across the stage doesn't mean it's good choreography. I remember well the original B'way production and that number took the roof off the theatre. I don't argue with making The Wiz a woman but Latifah was atrocious. The songs were in the wrong keys for her, and her energy was way too low to make any of the dialogue funny or touching. Why oh why oh why did they put in the dreadful Scarecrow number from the dreadful movie instead of using the original???? I still remember Hinton Battle performing the original song in 1975 with awe. He was astounding and the moment when he realizes in the number that he can stand on his own feet - AND DANCE - was unforgettable.

 

I wish I could like these productions. I really do. I've made my living in musical theatre for the past 40 years. I sit down every year to watch them with hope in my heart but unless they figure out how to cast, direct, choreograph and produce these shows with the right "stars" in the right roles, their audience is going to turn them off with a weary sigh halfway through the programs just as I did. I would love to have sat in the casting sessions when somebody said, "Wouldn't Carrie Underwood be just PERFECT as Maria?" or "Alison Williams is so fresh and charming, and Walken is ideal for Hook." Underwood couldn't act, Williams couldn't charm and Walken couldn't even remember his lines.

 

Sigh.

 

In the casting sessions for Sound of Music I'm sure the only word that came up when Carrie Underwood's name was mentioned was: RATINGS. That's why she was cast. They thought wholesome and fan base. And that's what they got. Her fans loved her and they tuned in in droves. The rest of us threw up.

 

As for Williams ... the only explanation is her father. And even that doesn't make sense since most people at NBC don't even like him. She did one thing at least: she made Underwood look like a musical comedy star