''The Wiz Live!'' is an American television special that aired live on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on December 3, 2015. Produced by

Craig Zadan Craig Zadan (April 15, 1949 – August 20, 2018) was an American producer and writer. Working alone and with Neil Meron, his partner in the production company Storyline Entertainment, he produced such films as ''Footloose'', ''Chicago'' and ...

and

Neil Meron Neil Meron (born October 26, 1955) is an American film producer known for producing the 2002 film ''Chicago'' and the 2007 film ''Hairspray''. With partner Craig Zadan he ran the production company Storyline Entertainment until Zadan's death in ...

, it is a performance of a new adaptation of the 1975 Broadway musical ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown (writer), William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's childr ...

'', a

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

/ R&B reinterpretation of

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

's 1900 novel ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...

''. The broadcast is performed live from

Grumman Studios Grumman Studios is a sound stage complex in Bethpage, New York, United States, that offers 160,000 square feet with seven sound stages and 30 acres of paved outdoor space. Principal owner in the project is Parviz Farahzad whose production company ...

Bethpage, New York Bethpage (formerly known as Central Park) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 16,429 at the 2010 United States Cen ...

. This adaptation of the musical combines aspects of both the Broadway play and its 1978

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

Cast and characters

Main

* Shanice Williams as

Dorothy Gale Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...

Elijah Kelley Elijah Kelley (born August 1, 1986) is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He appeared in films such as '' 28 Days'' (2000), ''Take the Lead'' (2006), ''Hairspray'' (2007), ''Red Tails'' (2012), ''Lee Daniels' The Butler'' (2013), NBC's live-m ...

as the

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley B ...

/ Sticks the Farmhand Man #3 *

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He gained fame for his songwriting abilities when he penned Mario's 2004 hit " Let Me Love You ...

as the Tin-Man / John the Farmhand Man #1 *

David Alan Grier David Alan Grier (born June 30, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as Bernard on '' Damon'' (1998), as David Bellows on ''Life with Bonnie'' (2002–2004), as Joe Carmichael on ''The Carmichael Show'' (2015� ...

as the

Cowardly Lion The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak. Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...

/ Robert the Farmhand Man #2 *

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

as Evillene, the

Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is ...

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

the Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown (writer), William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's childr ...

* Amber Riley as Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North *

Uzo Aduba Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba (; born February 10, 1981) is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series '' Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she won an ...

Glinda Glinda is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum for his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's 1900 children's classic ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', and is the most powerful sorceress in the Land of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Coun ...

, the Good Witch of the South *

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as "Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song " Home" from t ...

as Auntie Em / Emily Gale *

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

as The Bouncer / The Gatekeeper of the Entrance to the Emerald City * Scooter the Dog as Toto

Ensemble

*Chris Borrero *James Brown III *Olutayo Bosede *Elon Van Buckley *Ta'rea Campbell *Jessica Castro *Kacie Garland *

Asmeret Ghebremichael Asmeret Ghebremichael is an American actress and singer, known for her work in ''Submissions Only'', ''Legally Blonde'', and '' The Book of Mormon''. Early life and education Ghebremichael grew up in Churchill, Pennsylvania, with her parents an ...

*Frankie Gordils *Khadija Griffith *Tre Holloway *Carlos Irizarry *Marcus Paul James *Frederic Jean *

Capathia Jenkins Capathia Jenkins is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her work as a Broadway performer, with roles in shows such as ''Caroline, or Change'', ''Newsies'', and Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a ...

Mykal Kilgore Mykal Kilgore (born August 21, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. His debut album, ''A Man Born Black'', was released on September 6, 2019. Early life Mykal Kilgore was born and raised in Orlando, Florida. He attended Florida State Univ ...

Tamika Lawrence Tamika Sonja Lawrence is a two time Grammy winning American actress, singer, and writer. Early life and education Lawrence was born on January 11 in Columbus, Ohio. She received her BFA in musical theatre from the University of Arizona. Career ...

*India R. McGee *

Paul McGinnis Paul McGinnis (born 1973) is an American puppeteer for ''Sesame Street'' and The Muppets. He has also performed in various non-Muppet television productions such as ''The Book of Pooh'', ''Julie's Greenroom'', ''The Wiz Live!'', '' Crash & Bernste ...

*Maurice Murphy *Antonio Moore *

Danielle Polanco Danielle Polanco is an American dancer and choreographer and actress. She is best known for being the leading lady in Omarion's music video Touch and for starring in the 2008 movie '' Step Up 2: The Streets'', in which she portrayed Missy Serrano ...

*Malaiyka Reid *Eric Sanchez *Sherisse Springer *Chris Silcox *Ahmahd Thomas *Raphael Thomas *Alex Wade *Donald Webber *DaShaun Wesley *Xavier Wilcher *NaTasha Williams Pit voices were provided by Broadway Inspirational Voices. Source: Broadway World

Musical numbers

:''The list of musical numbers is taken from the actual broadcast and are in order as they appear in the broadcast and include the characters' names who perform the song.'' *"The Feeling We Once Had" – Aunt Em and Ensemble *"Tornado" – Company *"He's the Wizard" – Addaperle, Dorothy, and Munchkins *"Soon as I Get Home" – Dorothy *" You Can't Win" – Scarecrow and Crows *"

Ease on Down the Road "Ease on Down the Road" is a song from the 1975 Broadway musical ''The Wiz'', an R&B re-interpretation of L. Frank Baum's ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. The Charlie Smalls–composed tune is the show's version of both "Follow the Yellow Brick ...

" – Dorothy and Scarecrow *"Slide Some Oil to Me" – Tin Man *"Ease on Down the Road (Reprise)" – Dorothy, Scarecrow and Tin Man *"(I'm a) Mean Ole Lion" – Lion *"Ease on Down the Road (Reprise 2)" – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion *"Kalidah Battle" – Company *"Be a Lion" – Dorothy and Lion *"Lion's Dream" – Lion and Poppies *"Emerald City Ballet (Psst)" – Company *"So You Wanted to Meet the Wizard" – Wizard *"What Would I Do If I Could Feel" – Tin Man *"We Got It" – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion *"Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News" – Evilene and Winkies *"Funky Monkeys" – Company *" Everybody Rejoice/A Brand New Day" – The Company *"Y'all Got It!" – Wizard and Company *"Believe in Yourself" – Glinda *"

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

/Finale" – Dorothy All numbers composed by Charlie Smalls save for the following: "Tornado" is composed by Timothy Graphenreed and Harold Wheeler. "Emerald City Ballet (Psst)" is composed by Graphenreed and

George Faison George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

. "We Got It" is written by Ne-Yo, Elijah Kelley, Harvey Mason Jr, and Stephen Oremus. "Everybody Rejoice/A Brand New Day" is written by

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

Production

Development

The production, a co-production between

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...

and Cirque du Soleil Theatrical – who provided special acrobatic performers for the "Tornado", "You Can't Win", and "Funky Monkeys" sequences – was a follow-up to NBC's live musical events, ''

The Sound of Music Live! ''The Sound of Music Live!'' is an American television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 Broadway musical ''T ...

'' and ''

Peter Pan Live! ''Peter Pan Live!'' is an American television special that was broadcast by NBC on December 4, 2014. The special featured a live production of the 1954 musical adaptation of ''Peter Pan'', televised from Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York, sta ...

''. Like the previous specials, ''The Wiz Live!'' was televised from

. The role of Dorothy was cast via an open audition on June 6, 2015. On August 5, it was announced on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' that Shanice Williams of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

would fill the role in ''The Wiz Live!''. Williams had co-starred in local productions of ''

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'' is a 1967 musical with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and (in a 1999 revision) Andrew Lippa. It is based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip ''Peanuts''. The musical ...

'' and ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

'' among others, and in 2014, was nominated for a

Paper Mill Playhouse Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live in ...

Rising Star Award for best leading actress. The special was directed by

Kenny Leon Kenny Leon is an American director, producer, actor, and author, notable for his work on Broadway, on television, and in regional theater. In 2014, he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for ''A Raisin in the Sun''. Career He gaine ...

and adapted for television by

Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in ''Torch Song Trilogy'' and ''Hairspray'' and movie roles in ''Mrs. Doubtfire'', '' Independence Day'', and ...

from the original musical's book by William F. Brown.

Fatima Robinson Fatima Robinson (born August 29, 1971) is an American dancer, music video director and choreographer. Career Robinson has choreographed dance routines (for live performances and music videos) for several musical and pop artists, notably for th ...

was the program's choreographer, with

Harvey Mason, Jr. Harvey Jay Mason Jr. (born June 3, 1968) is an American record producer, songwriter, movie producer and current CEO of The Recording Academy. He has written and produced songs for artists including Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Deniece Wil ...

and

Stephen Oremus Stephen Oremus (born 1971) is an American musician who has worked on Broadway theatre productions as musical director and as orchestrator. His credits include arranger and orchestrator for the music for ''Avenue Q'', musical director and arranger ...

serving as the musical directors. Songs from the original Broadway production were featured, with two exceptions: " You Can't Win", a song cut from the musical and first used in its 1978 feature film adaptation as sung by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, was used in place of the Scarecrow's key number "I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday", and "We Got It", a new song composed by Harvey Mason Jr., Stephen Oremus with stars Ne-Yo and Elijah Kelley, was performed as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion began their journey to find and kill the Wicked Witch of the West. ''The Wiz Live!'' was the first live TV program in US history to contain

audio description Audio description, also referred to as a video description, described video, or more precisely called a visual description, is a form of narration used to provide information surrounding key visual elements in a media work (such as a film or te ...

for blind or visually impaired viewers.

Marketing

The cost of a 30-second commercial during ''The Wiz'' ranged between $330,000 to $350,000, marking a drop from the $345,000 to $400,000 cost of ad time during ''Peter Pan Live!''. The decrease in ad cost was attributed to the modest viewership of ''Peter Pan'' in comparison to ''The Sound of Music Live!'', which an analyst felt was a result of the reduced novelty of the production in comparison to ''The Sound of Music''.

Reddi-wip Reddi-Wip is an American brand of sweetened whipped cream propelled from its container by nitrous oxide. It is produced by Conagra Brands and is sold in varieties such as Original, Extra Creamy, Fat Free, Zero Sugar, and Barista. In 2019, two new ...

served as a main sponsor of the presentation;

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, which served as a major sponsor of NBC's previous live musicals, declined to participate. NBC produced themed commercials to air throughout the special as part of the brand's "Share the Joy" campaign; one, which was timed to air after the corresponding scene in the musical, featured " A Brand New Day" being performed by students of the Excel Academy in

Hyattsville, Maryland Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and also a close, urban suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 21,187 at the 2020 United States Census. History Before Europeans reached the area, the upper An ...

—a school which

ConAgra Foods Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...

had donated money to in support of musical arts.

Reception

Critical reception

''The Wiz Live!'' received positive reviews from critics, who praised the acting and singing abilities of the cast and for being an improvement over the two previous live NBC musicals. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the show has a 91% rating, based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The site's consensus states: "''The Wiz Live!'' is several notches above NBC's other musical broadcasts thanks to bold performances and large-scale production pieces."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

reports a weighted average of 73 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Viewership

''The Wiz Live!'' was seen by 11.5 million viewers, with a 3.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Although higher than ''Peter Pan Live!'', it trailed a ''

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

'' game on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

between the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

and

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, which was seen by around 17 million. Average household viewership was notably higher in markets with a large African-American population, such as

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Nielsen also reported that the special produced the most social network interactions of any live television event in the past four years; there were three times as many Twitter postings related to ''The Wiz Live!'' than there were related to ''Peter Pan Live!''. NBC rebroadcast the special on December 19, 2015. The rebroadcast was seen by 1.6 million viewers.

Accolades

Home media release

NBC released a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

of the special on December 22, 2015, through

Universal Studios Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

. The DVD includes a behind-the-scenes special, ''The Making of The Wiz Live!'' As part of Andrew Lloyd Webber's ''The Shows Must Go On'', the full show was made available on YouTube for a limited time, to support the African-American community and other communities of color during the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiz Live 2010s American television specials 2015 television specials African-American films American live television shows English-language television shows Films shot in New York (state) Musical television films Musical television specials NBC television specials Works based on The Wizard of Oz Films directed by Kenny Leon