The Wiz Live Review

The Wiz Live was the first NBC live stage production that I watched until the end. With The Sound of Music Live and Peter Pan Live, I found myself turning them off before they had ended. I think this is because I was familiar with the source material beforehand and the actors that had originated the characters. With The Wiz, I had seen part of the original, but it was a while ago and I did not remember any of the songs. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this production after the first song, but I was pleasantly surprised. I thought this was a wonderful and very well-rounded production. If you’re someone who enjoys anything and everything having to do with The Wizard of Oz, you’ll thoroughly enjoy The Wiz Live.

The casting for this was so perfect. I was familiar with a few of the actors, but this was my first time seeing most of them. I loved seeing Queen Latifah and Elijah Kelley back together, it was almost like a little Hairspray reunion. I thought Elijah was an amazing Scarecrow. Shanice Williams was an incredible find to play Dorothy, I always love when they get an unknown to play the lead role. One of my favorites was Amber Riley as Addaperle. I’ve loved her as a singer and actress for a while, being as I avidly watched Glee, so it was a treat to see her get to show off her vocal talents again. The rest of the ensemble was fantastic as well. I particularly liked the look and sound of the Munchkins. I wished Dorothy had enough time to share another song or two in Munchkinland.

The overall look of the sets and design of the costumes was brilliant. For only being a live, televised production, these set details looked ready for Broadway. They were colorful, bright, eccentric, and everything you’d expect from the land of Oz. Glinda’s dress was by far my favorite. Speaking of Glinda, I thought it was comical that she was the “normally named” of the witch sisters. There was Evilene, Evermean, Addaperle, and Glinda. I don’t think was intended to get a laugh, but it certainly did from me.

Being as this production was a musical, I have to touch on the music itself. I loved it, I really did. These songs really helped to ease the plot along, or rather to ease on down the road. The stand-out songs for me were You Can’t Win, Slide Some Oil to Me, and He’s the Wizard. He’s the Wizard has been stuck in my head for days now, so I decided to check out the original. I prefer the updated version.