This trip to Oz had plenty of magic and a ton of soul.
Lead by newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy and a cast of A-listers
including Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo, Common, Elijah Kelley and
Uzo Aduba, NBC's live production of "The Wiz" was a fun and funky roll down the yellow brick road that delivered the goods straight from other side of the rainbow.
Like the 1978 film and the Tony-winning Broadway show the came before
it, the well-tread story of Dorothy's journey through Oz was boosted by
its music, a blend of gospel, R&B and pop featuring hits like "Ease
on Down the Road," and "Everybody Rejoice". Among the stand out
performances were Williams as Dorothy, a vastly underrated David Alan
Grier as the Cowardly Lion and Queen Latifah as the gender-bending
Wizard.
The show was also jazzed up by Cirque du Soleil acrobatics, street dance
and hip-hop choreography — including a seductive dance by the "Poppies"
outside of the Emerald City, that turned out to be one of the
telecast's more eye-popping numbers.
Aside from a couple of odd pop-culture references (characters played by
Amber Riley and the Common busted out glittering iPads at different
points in the show) NBC's "The Wiz Live!" was far tighter and far more
fun to watch than last year's awkward production of "Peter Pan" and
2013's high-rated but wooden "The Sound of Music."
It was good to ease on down this road.
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