Photo courtesy of Virginia Sherwood/NBC
On Thursday night, less than an hour before NBC’s showing of "The Wiz Live!", the New York Times culture critic Wesley Morris blasted off with a tweet where he repeated the phrase "PLEASE BE GOOD" seven times and then ended with "(OR TRULY TRULY BAD)." It was an understandable plea, and hopefully viewers wouldn’t have to click their heels three times to get to either outcome.
This performance of The Wiz was the network’s third annual production of a landmark musical on live television, and the preceding installments of The Sound of Music and Peter Pan had lacked inspiration in both their selection and execution. Professional and Twitter critics mocked these two stagings for their unimaginative approaches and the flat performances of their leads, yet early indicators for The Wiz showed promise. With an on-stage cast that included Mary J. Blige, Uzo Aduba, Elijah Kelley, Ne-Yo, and David Alan Grier, as well as strong behind the scenes players like director Kenny Leon and pop music choreographer Fatima Robinson, the talent was definitely present. Then again,the world is littered with failed new takes and offshoots of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Sure, there is the theatrical sensation of Wicked, but more common are duds like 1985’s nightmare machine Return to Oz and the 2013’s forgettable Oz the Great and Powerful. So if "The Wiz Live!" was going to tank, hopefully it could distinguish itself by doing so spectacularly and deposit itself in the cult classic category.
The Wiz was created as a re-imagining of the Oz story with an all black cast. It debuted in Baltimore in late 1974, before moving to Broadway in 1975, where it won the Tonys for Best Musical and Best Original Score. Then in 1978 it was then adapted as a movie through Motown Productions and with musical guidance from Quincy Jones. Directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Joel Schumacher, that version took it out of the Midwestern farmland and set it in a New York City that’s lacquered with stylized grit. It starred Diana Ross as the 24-year-old Dorothy, a mousey teacher who has never been south of 125th St., and a pre-Off the Wall Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, stuffed with inspirational aphorisms and floppy physicality. The Wiz movie may have had a tepid critical and box office impact when it was released, but it has since become a cultural touchstone, particularly for several generations of African-Americans. (Here’s a 20-second hip-hop footnote timeout: Year's After Jay Z’s use of a song from Annie for "Hard Knock Life", Nas’s autobiographical stray shot "Surviving the Times" sampled Nipsey Russell’s Wiz performance of “What Would I Do if I Could Feel” on a beat produced by former NBA baller Chris Webber.)
"The Wiz Live!" returned the show to the heartland, setting its opening scene against a beautifully washed out LED projection of a Kansas wheat field. The outmoded pimp caricatures of the crows that held back Jackson’s scarecrow in the film were replaced with menacing creatures whose costumes seem indebted to the Night’s Watch. The story of Dorothy, played by 17-year-old newcomer Shanice Williams, was further fleshed out, given an element of tragedy, and unburdened from her famous dog. The dialogue was updated too—the two mentions of "shade" and the allusion to the #squad phenomenon were a couple of the less obtrusive examples.
More important was the willingness to update the score without coming off as pandering. Yes, the Tin Man hit the dab, but the soul, gospel, and early disco sounds of the original were occasionally tweaked with trap snare rolls and a vision of Emerald City inspired by the ballroom vogue tradition. The production also knew when to hold back. The inclusion of Common, playing a doorman dressed in probably the most ridiculous costume in a career filled with many ridiculous costumes, seemed superfluous, but at least they didn’t try to shoehorn in a rap interlude. In the end, "The Wiz Live!" largely succeeded because of the performers and the creators’ ability to see the possibilities for embellishment without totally selling out the source material. Key songs "No Bad News" and "A Brand New Day" went unmolested and retained their power.
What The Wiz Live! truly functioned as was a talent showcase for its performers. For three seasons Uzo Aduba has wowed viewers with her portrayal of Crazy Eyes, a prisoner with mental health issues, on Orange in the New Black, but here she could overpower them with her rendition of “Believe in Yourself” as the poised and powerful Glinda the Good Witch. Elijah Kelley, once tipped to play Sammy Davis Jr. in a biopic after his appearance in the 2007 film adaptation of the Hairspray musical, has since seen his career stall. Here he could impress again as the Scarecrow with his acrobatic dancing and goofy magnetism. These opportunities didn’t always translate into a transcendent viewing experience, but they did open up a world of possibilities that hopefully go beyond a one-night major network TV special.
Next year, NBC is rolling the dice on yet another Dorothy-associated property with "Emerald City". It’s an hour-long drama with all 10 episodes directed by fantastical gobbledy gooker Tarsem Singh that promises to show "the fabled Land of Oz in a way you've never seen it before." Once again, it doesn’t sound like it will be good, but if we’re lucky, it might be truly, truly bad.