The Best and Worst Moments From NBC’s The Wiz Live
OK, so NBC didn’t go with our casting picks for their third live musical production, The Wiz. But with a group that includes Cirque du Soleil, Ne-Yo, Amber Riley, Mary J. Blige, David Alan Grier, Common, Stephanie Mills, Uzo Aduba, and Queen Latifah, we can’t be that upset about it. But amid all that star power, NBC took a risk and ditched their tradition of casting a major celebrity in the lead role (Carrie Underwood, Allison Williams), instead going with newcomer Shanice Williams—whose audition for The Wiz Live was her first professional audition ever. So how did the cast and the show stack up tonight? Let’s get straight to the best and worst moments. (Spoiler alert: There’s hardly any worsts to talk about, for a change.)
THE BEST: The costumes. Holy hell, the costumes! Long gone is the rainbow-loomed creation that Tiger Lily was forced to wear last year, and in its place are some seriously awesome ensembles. Paul Tazewell (the costume designer for the Broadway sensation Hamilton) was behind The Wiz‘s wardrobe—and he absolutely killed it. Now, where can I get me one of them Poppy outfits before Halloween next year?
THE WORST: The random Apple product placement. Apparently there are iPads in Oz now? If that was the case, there had to be an app that could have gotten Dorothy home faster than the three hours and loads of magic it took.__
via GIPHY
THE WORST: Where’s Toto? Last year, during Peter Pan Live, Nana all but stole the show. This year, we’re sending out a search and rescue team to find Toto, who hasn’t been seen since the first five seconds of the telecast.
I decided to take the initiative, @NBC… #TheWizLive #TotoGate pic.twitter.com/CmNMJTZmWC
— Steven (@somedayboy) December 4, 2015
But ummm where ToTo tho? #TheWiz pic.twitter.com/qyix5vbyoc
— Powerline (@GioJohnson_) December 4, 2015
Toto sitting in the dressing room waiting on his cue like…. ? #thewiz #wherestoto #straightfromthea #atlien #atlanta
A photo posted by ATLien aka Michelle Brown (@iamatlien) on Dec 3, 2015 at 7:11pm PST
Everyone asking for toto, he's hanging with me backstage. #TheWiz #TotoWhereAreYou pic.twitter.com/bUQEd0hDO9
— Karen Civil (@KarenCivil) December 4, 2015
THE BEST: Addaperle. Smurf blue has never looked so good. Our only complaint? That there wasn’t more Amber Riley screen time—because couldn’t we all use more of this in our lives? (Answer: YASSSS.)
via GIPHY
THE BEST: Uzo’s Glinda. We.have.no.words.
"And what's wrong with being a woman?" Ooh, tell em, Dorothy! #TheWiz
— NBC Entertainment (@nbc) December 4, 2015
— Makho Ndlovu (@makhondlovu) > December 4, 2015
THE VERY BEST: The vocals. Where do we even start? From the second Stephanie Mills opened her mouth, to Amber Riley’s insane pipes, to Elijah Kelley, to Ne-Yo, to Mary J. Blige, to Shanice Williams, and beyond—literally everyone was wowing us tonight with their vocals. (Even David Alan Grier impressed.) The show was basically one non-stop episode of chills-inducing vocal performances, amirite?
THE ULTIMATE: Shanice Williams. Let’s all take a second to bow down to this unknown, 18-year-old girl from New Jersey who just stood among some of the biggest celebs in the biz—and nailed it. Her sassy, spunky Dorothy was downright Tony-worthy, and let’s not forget her mike-drop feminist moment…
"And what's wrong with being a woman?" Ooh, tell em, Dorothy! #TheWiz
— NBC Entertainment (@nbc) December 4, 2015
https://twitter.com/AudraEqualityMc/status/672615986445598720
"And what's wrong with being a woman? Nothing that's right. I don't know where y'all learned y'all manners." you better preach #TheWiz
— Boy Scout Ballerina (@MyArtisMylife) December 4, 2015
OH, and we have to mention her phenomenal performance of “Home,” which has us all like…
everyone after watching #TheWiz pic.twitter.com/Tq1OQADejE
— cierra (@ayomidaye) December 4, 2015
__OVERALL: You know it’s a good night when not even Twitter can hate. In fact, Twitter all but lost its mind over the amazingness that was The Wiz Live. Sorry Sound of Music and Peter Pan, but The Wiz was on a whole new level of greatness tonight. NBC went ahead and finally achieved its goal of bringing Broadway into our living rooms—but to be honest, I would have shelled out the big bucks to go and see this in person. Yeah, it was that good. What did you guys think?
So basically #TheWizLive has rendered hate tweeting impossible.
— Paul Wontorek (@PaulWontorek) December 4, 2015
About The Author
