mike48128 Review of The Wiz Live!

The Wiz Live! (2015 TV Movie)

Bravo! Spellbinding and Hypnotic! Surpasses the old movie in every way!

[10/10 · 5 December 2015]

Apparently, there are thousands of people out there who never saw or knew about "The Wiz"? How dare they make a black version of the Wizard of Oz? Well,it's only been around as a play and movie since 1975! What a major improvement over the scary and depressing movie! I love the fact that the Good Witch of the North is "low on batteries" and her glitzy fireworks fizzle! Not as long as the 2 previous "live" NBC shows. Just under 2 hours without 54 min. of commercials. For all ages, and, well, just for everyone. It's presented as a live Broadway play and needed a live audience! The staging reminds me of "Wicked", and I am comparing it to "Wicked" in a very positive way! The use of "Cirque Du Soleil" talent is genius, but the battle scenes seem small and are not that impressive. The opening tornado scene is a bit hard to understand for a very brief moment. The "grey storm people" in strange costumes represent the tornado, as they are spinning around and around like a "whirling dervish". They should have been more "airborne"! The video-photographer takes a few scenes to find his "composition". Dorothy scowls a bit due to her face not being fashion model-perfect. She is just a "plain girl" from the farm. Then she sings! She totally "owns""Home" and it is sung in both acts. It's a song requiring both range and power. Great choreography and dancing. The dancing poppies are very slinky-sexy and steal the show! The laser-generated backdrops are most effective. A simplified "Oz" story with 1970's "jive" talking. The Wicked Witch's coal factory replaces the dreadful "ghetto sweat-shop" from the movie. The "Oz-Man" mechanical head sure reminds me of "Wicked"! The stage pyrotechnics are effective! The best thing I have seen on broadcast TV this year! The only people that won't like this are people who don't like musical plays. Many of the songs flow into each other. Songs that were "minor" in the movie get full-treatment here! It will be on Broadway again! Yes, there are a few chorus and "Cirque" people who are white, Asian, etc. Why not? Far superior on the DVD without an hour of Walmart commercials! Includes the "Making of The Wiz" as a bonus.