The Wiz Live Review: The Shows Must Go On

Credit: https://www.instagram.com/west_end_frame/

End the end of 2015, NBC made the 3rd of their "live" TV musicals, following The Sound of Music Live and Peter Pan Live - it may not have been as successful in terms of ratings, but in time has become one of the better "Live" TV musicals out there next to Grease Live and Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert: and that's The Wiz Live - and somehow I didn't do a review of it. 

I'm not sure why but nearly 5 years later, here we are. 

Every week, The Shows Must Go On have steered away from the filmed Andrew Lloyd Webber shows and instead started streaming the "live" musicals for 48 hours, and this week has supposed to be Peter Pan Live. 

However, considering the Black Lives Matter movement both here and in the US, they decided to pull the plug on Neverland and switch it to Oz instead, celebrating some of the amazing black talent out there. 

The Wiz is a musical based on The Wizard of Oz featuring an all-black cast, which was written by Charlie Smalls and William F Brown, and premiered on Broadway in 1975 - since then, it is not a show that gets produced very often, especially here in the UK. But it was a game-changer for black musical theatre, as it helped pave the way for shows such as Dreamgirls. 

While it may not have the charm of the original 1939 classic, what makes it so much fun is how colourful the show is musically; like I said, this features an all-black cast, so the music is a mixture of Motown, gospel and RnB, and it's so much fun to listen to. 

The cast is enjoyably fun in their own way: from newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy, to Elijah Kelley, Ne Yo and David Alan Grier as the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, Oliver winner Amber Riley riffing away as Addaperle and Queen Latifah as The Wiz herself. 

Oh and she may not be in it for long, but Mary J Blige definitely looks like she's having a ball as Evillene. 

They even paid tribute to the original Broadway production by having original Dorothy Stephanie Mills come back to play Aunt Em! 

Though the songs may not be too memorable (with the exception of Ease On Down The Road, Brand New Day and Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News), they are still fun in their own way and performed really well. The sets and costumes were incredibly colourful; and this was before the "live" studio audience became a thing with the TV musicals so you weren't interrupted by random bits of applause that took you away from the story. 

As long as you don't The Wiz Live too seriously, you're going to have a good time - it's not perfect, but it's a fun show to watch on a Saturday night, showcasing some incredible talent. 

The Wiz Live is only available until Sunday 14th June. 

To watch it, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46S9yppXxKE&t=1045s