The Wiz Live debuted on NBC Thursday December 3rd. Remade from the original The Wiz that made its grand first performance at the Morris A. Mechanic Theater located in Baltimore in 1974. The musical is an adaptation of the 1939 movie The Wonderful World of Oz. William R. Brown and Charles Smalls rewrote the book into The Wiz musical involving the African American audience in the infamous fiction novel. Remaking this film to portray African Americans in a popular film proved extraordinary during this time. The musical eventually moved on to Broadway at the Majesty Theater in 1975. Three years later, the play's audience grew so much, they turned the production into a film starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
The musical portrays a young girl, Dorothy, who lives with her aunt in Kansas. In the time, she feels lost from her prior life with her deceased family. After being carried away to a distance land by a tornado, Dorothy discovers the true meaning of the word home.
This marks the second live performance, Peter Pan Live being the first. Peter Pan Live was a modern day adaptation of the classic Peter Pan story. NBC studios recruited actors Allison Williams, Christopher Walkens, Christian Borle, and more. The musical premiered December 4th, 2014; paying homage to the original 1954 performance.
The show lasted three hours and had an array of celebrities casted. You'd think the storyline would have gotten lost with the amount of celebrities participating in the show, however the musical kept its essence. The cast included Ne-Yo, Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, Amber Riley, Elijah Kelley, David Alan Grier, Common, Uzo Aduba, Shanice Williams, the Cirque du Soleil dancers and the original 1975 Dorothy Stephanie Mills. On Wednesday November 25th, NBC showed the making of the musical and showed the public the process to find Dorothy for this production. When director Kenny Leon first heard Williams sing home during the audition process, he knew automatically that she was the Dorothy Gale to NBC's The Wiz Live.
The show was spectacular and worth watching. The talent of R&B singers made this classical musical modern for those who are still at awe from contemporary R&B. The magnificent costumes and the bang out choreography brought a sense of amazement to audience members. The TV special included digital special effects that brought the land of Oz to life. The special airing of The Wiz Live was a one-night show, meaning it's not going to be on again. However, the show is listed on the NBC website readily available to watch.
