Poster of The Wiz Live!

The Wiz Live!

Adventure, Family, Fantasy

Director: Matthew Diamond, Kenny Leon

Release Date: December 3, 2015

Where to Watch

After seeing Peter Pan Live!, if you had told me that I would watch another musical production on NBC, I would have called you a dirty liar, but I was wrong. The Wiz Live! was actually great, but I didn’t watch it live. I watched it commercial-free on Hulu. First, The Wiz Live! did a great job with casting actual singers and performers: Stephanie Mills, Amber Riley, Ne-Yo, Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Elijah Kelley and the debut of Shanice Williams as Dorothy. Who knew that David Alan Grier could sing and dance? The Dancing Flowers scene was the best! Apparently everyone who follows Broadway, but not me, knew that Grier is fire. Second, it has been years since I saw The Wiz original film, but I vaguely remember thinking that the story was slight in comparison to The Wizard of Oz. After watching The Wiz Live!, I did not feel the immediate compulsion to rewatch and compare and contrast the two and thought the story was as strong as the book and original adaptation. Third, the production didn’t seem like it was lazily executed or rushed. The Wiz Live! is great for the whole family and has reinvigorated NBC’s pallid attempts at reinvigorating tv broadcasting musical productions.

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