I clicked my heels three times and prayed that this year's NBC live musical would be a winner. There is a God! Or in this case, a wizard!
There were rumors that Disney had planned to remake The Wiz for television after the success of Bette Midler's hit, Gypsy in 1994. Nearly some 21 years later, NBC has done it, No, I mean they really have done it!
For Reuse c/o NBC Universal
It would take a tornado to blow that certain special someone into the audition hall and convince the producers that she has what it takes to "ease on down the road". Clearly this twister dropped a power house on the heads of the show's producers.
Shanice Williams copy right NBC Universal
With Shanice Williams as Dorothy Gale, a star is born! Miss Williams has the essential ingredients to embody the young girl from Kansas. How in the world do you fill the ruby slippers of Judy Garland who will forever be identified as THE Dorothy Gale or fill those silver slippers of the great Stephanie Mills who is to The Wiz what Garland is to the MGM film Wizard of Oz. Forget cyclones, Shanice Williams alone blew me away and out of my seat. Williams "Dorothy" is not contrived. All of the innocence, strength, spunkiness and vulnerability crucial to the role are there. The vocals are simply breathtaking. Why? Because she is singing from her soul, without bastardizing the melody lines of these musical treasures with pop gobbledygook, a trend so common these days with up and coming singers.
How do you top Stephanie Mills definitive recording of "Home" or even Diana Ross's superb rendering from the film? The last three minutes and nineteen seconds in which Williams sings "Home" are pure magic. Solidifying that this talented newcomer has the wisdom, heart and courage to make her a true star. A virtuoso performance brighter than the Yellow Brick Road!
Stephanie Mills as Aunt Em brings The Wiz legacy full circle. Mills performance of "The Feeling We Once Had" is vibrant and powerful and had me wondering if she might walk off with the entire show! Will someone please get Miss Mills back on Broadway, for God sake?! Mills aluminates the screen and tugs at every little heart string while singing to her successor.
NBC Universal
All three of Dorothy's cohorts shine in their roles. Elijah Kelley offers a tender scarecrow who has all right moves. Ne-Yo's Tin Man is a galvanized combo of both sweet and sexy, who is as smooth as his vocals. A major bravo to David Alan Grier as The Cowardly Lion. Mr. Grier is as lovable as ever and his vocals top notch.
As Addapearle, Amber Reilly conjured a rip roaring "He's The Wizard". I cannot think of a better candidate for Effie in Dream Girls. Mary J. Blige was deliciously devilish as Evilene. Miss Blige's "No Bad News" had me wanting to get up and dance around the house. As Glinda, Uzo Audba looked enchanting and knocked it right out of the park when belting out "If You Believe".
Then there's the all-knowing, all powerful Wiz himself. In my eyes Queen Latifah can do no wrong. What a marvelous choice to have Latifah, almost unrecognizable, in male drag, as the great and powerful Oz! She killed it with "So You Wanted to Meet the Wizard". A true Diva in her own right!
Kudos to the multi-talented Harvey Fierstein for his whimsical adaptation and ingenious twists and turns to the yellow brick road that we are all so familiar with. I was delighted that he incorporated Dorothy's pals in OZ as hired hands who work on the farm. A device originated in the 1925 silent, Wizard of OZ.
I did have a few quibbles but minor ones at that. I would have liked to have seen Dorothy in some kind of blue gingham. The word on the street is that the producers tried tirelessly to get permission for those iconic Ruby Slippers. In the end the color of Dorothy's cobblery doesn't matter a hill of beans. It is the thought behind them and what their magic represents.
On that note, I really felt that this live production was so innovative. Bravo to director, Kenny Leon , the real wizard behind this production and the entire creative team who never once betrayed the morals or lessons that L. Frank Baum instilled through his tales of the marvelous Land of Oz.
Left to right: Kenny Leon (Photo: Virginia Sherwood/NBC), Shanice Williams (Paul Gilmore/NBC) & Harvey Fierstein (Virginia Sherwood/NBC)
Kudos to Fatima Robinson for her marvelous and masterful choreography. Let us not forget The Wizard of Oz is a story about a journey and movement is so important.
Tip your hat to Charlie Smalls whose original 1975 score and its sentiment hold up very well and have transcended time beautifully.
My wish is that this version of The Wiz will transfer to the Great White Way and get the overdue revival it so richly deserves. With Shanice Williams heading the cast and reprising her "Dorothy". A Tony award would be inevitable. Further, I would like to see Stephanie Mills brought in to play Auntie Em and Glinda, giving her another chance to shine with "If You Believe" thus allowing her to score the Tony nomination she was robbed of in 1975.
Courtesy of DJ Schaefer
If you are not touched or entertained by NBC's The Wiz Live, well just ease on down the road and ask the Wizard if he has any brains left over!