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The Wiz Live! (NBC) - General Discussion


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Some casting news for live production airing December 3rd on NBC.

 

She's "Home"! Meet the Young Newcomer Who Will Star as Dorothy in The Wiz

 

Newcomer Shanice Williams has been announced to step into Dorothy's silver slippers in the upcoming NBC broadcast of The Wiz. She joins original Broadway star Stephanie Mills, Queen Latifah, David Alan Grier and Mary J. Blige.

 

 

 

NBC made the right decision and cast a unknown and someone who isn't 30. Thank goodness. Here's part of her casting audition and video of her finding out she got the role. And video of the announcement. Spoiler, she's adorable.

 

I'm so happy that this production is shaping up to be cast with people who can sing.

 

 

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Another casting update:

Glee's Amber P. Riley will play Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North (who gives Dorothy the silver [in this version of the story] slippers & points her towards the Yellow Brick Road) & Orange is the New Black's Uzo Aduba will play Glinda, the Good Witch of the South (who tells Dorothy the secret of the silver slippers & points her toward home). They're sisters to Evilene, the Wicked Witch of the West (played by Mary J. Blige).

http://tvline.com/2015/08/06/amber-riley-wiz-live-cast-uzo-aduba-nbc/

Edited by BW Manilowe
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More casting:

Ne-Yo and Common have joined the cast of NBC’s upcoming holiday production of The Wiz Live!, set to air December 3. Additionally, Elijah Kelley (Lee Daniels’ The Butler) has been cast as the Scarecrow, the role Michael Jackson played in the 1978 movie version .... Ne-Yo is set to play the Tin Man, and Common will play the non-singing role of the gatekeeper of Oz.

 

I'm really starting to look forward to this!

Edited by Trini
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I'm excited about Ne-Yo and Ejijah Kelley. Common bugs me for some reason. Maybe it's because people are always declaring how groundbreaking and amazing Common and Outkast are, but I personally have never enjoyed their music.

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Are there major differences between the Broadway and movie version of The Wiz? I've only seen the movie (a hundred times!) and I want to be prepared. I remember watching The Sound of Music Live and wondering where the hell was the gazebo! :)

*I thought NBC would move heaven and earth to get Usher as the scarecrow.

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(edited)

I think the only major difference is that Dorothy in the play is a teenager and not a 24 year old school teacher. I've looked and I don't believe any of the songs were altered.

 

ETA: Oh apparently in the play Dorothy is brought to Oz by a tornado like in the original story, for the movie their decided to "urbanize" it by making it a snowstorm in Manhattan.

 

And

 

The Scarecrow's song was changed from a gospel-style number in the play to a new funky pop tune for the movie. All three of the Wiz's songs were cut. Glinda has an introductory number in the play that was not used in the film. In the play, when the four friends learn that the Wiz is a fraud they confront him with a song called "Who Do You Think You Are?" which was also cut from the movie.

 

 

 

And "You Can't Win" is not in the stage production, although it was written for it. This is the Scarecrow song from the play.

Edited by JessePinkman
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(edited)

That Scarecrow makeup is horrifying, I'm fully prepared for people to talk about how that traumatized them as children 20 years from now.

 

The photoshop they did on that poor girl is a mess, she's so cute in motion. I wonder if NBC paid for the rights to make her shoes red, I thought MGM owned the rights to the "ruby slippers".

Edited by JessePinkman
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I am looking forward to this production.  The main cast has me excited and I may even recognize some of the members of the ensemble.  As for the costume, I will wait until I can see them in motion.  I was not really feeling Scarecrow's costume and Tinman's costume design is going to have to grow on me.

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Darn. I missed the making of special. Ill check to see it's coming on again. 

The making of special is available on the NBC app, if you're interested.

 

I'm looking forward to this more than Fox's Grease (where the casting is cringeworthy), although I'm still hoping for the Music Man next year. 

 

NBC has done a decent job in the past of mixing phenomenal singers with stronger actors. From the special, I'm probably most looking forward to Ne-Yo and Elijah Kelley. Latifah has me little worried. I think she's out matched vocally.

 

The sets look amazing and costumes look amazing. 

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Why I'm looking forward to this:

-It can't be any worse than Peter Pan.

-There can't possibly be a moment more uncomfortable than Vampire Bill and brood surrounded by a hundred swastikas while singing.

-The movie version of the Wiz (though visually stunning) was awful.

-I like most of the cast.

There's only room to move upwards for this year's NBC holiday musical special.

Edited by revbfc
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I'm looking forward to this being good, unlike the past two years (during which I watched for snark value and to lament that poor Christian Borle was being wasted). It's been decades since I saw either the stage production or the movie, so I'm going in without many preconceptions. 

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I'll probably watch tonight, but I'm so numb from what happened yesterday in San Bernadino (and with what happened last week in Colorado) that it just feels awkward to watch it.

 

And that's a shame because I actually was going to really watch it instead of "snark watching" like the Peter Pan one last year.

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Yay there's a thread!  I couldn't find this in the search engine so I was afraid there wouldn't be.  I love how they did the tornado.  (Have not seen The Wiz before.)  The Munchkins' costumes remind me of an illustration out of Alice in Wonderland.

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I was skeptical when they chose The Wiz, mainly because I didn't know much about it and it's all about me, but I was wrong.  This is the kind of show I wanted when I first heard NBC was doing live musicals. 

 

DAG makes for a great lion.

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I didn't know DAG could sing. Who knew? Very lively. It looks like a stage production whereas The Sound of Music was done in a studio or airport hanger. It looks amazing in 4K. Of course, it might not even be broadcasting in 4K but it looks great to me. LOL!!!

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I am watching this off and on as I don't usually like musicals, but this is a talented cast of singers. I had no idea that David Allen Grier could sing. He is really good. I have to second, who knew?

Edited by SimoneS
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I am watching this off and on as I don't usually like musicals, but this is a talented cast of singers. I had no idea that David Allen Grier could sing. He is really good. I have to second, who knew?

Reading his bio, it looks like he actually started in musical theater and was nominated for a Tony in the early 80s.  So who knew?  I guess people who knew Broadway from the 80s. 

 

I didn't know until tonight and so he's surprisingly the MVP for me in a very solid cast...unlike The Sound of Music when Christian Borle and Laura Benanti only had to breathe to be MVPs.

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I like Queen Latifah as a performer, but I think that she has been the weakest singer so far.

 

I can't believe that this show has another hour to go. This is way too long, but made worse by the horrible endless commercials.

Edited by SimoneS
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I like Queen Latifah as a performer, but I think that she has been the weakest singer so far.

By far, I've never thought she was a particularly good singer but she's certainly been trying for the last 10 years or so.

Mary J is surprisingly good! Those commercials had me scared.

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