The Wiz Live! [DVD]

If you saw NBC's live productions of The Sound Of Music and Peter Pan, forget them - even if Peter Pan was a slight improvement over The Sound Of Music. The Wiz Live forgoes cheap stunt casting that inspires snark more than admiration and, instead, casts plenty of big names that have both acting AND singing talent to carry this production. While some of the supporting cast may falter a bit in acting, (I'm looking at you, Ne-Yo.) there's plenty of talent here, especially with newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy. She's adorable, sings beautifully, and displays plenty of confidence in her acting abilities. For someone who's pretty green, she does well here and can only get better if she continues to work in the business. She's surrounded by some great supporting players, including the legendary Stephanie Mills as Aunt Em. Stephanie Mills is best-known for creating Dorothy in the original Broadway production of The Wiz, and to have her grace this production, even if only briefly, is a nice touch, and she even gets to sing! Other great supporting players include Glee's Amber Riley as Addaperle, Queen Latifah in an incredible gender-bending performance as The Wiz, Mary J. Blige beautifully chewing the scenery as Evillene, David Allan Grier as the Lion, Ne-Yo as the Tin Man, Elijah Kelley as the Scarecrow, and Uzo Aduba as Glinda. All performing classics from the original score, plus a new song titled "We Got It," all with a new book by Tony-winner Harvey Fierstein and choreography from the acclaimed Fatima Robinson.Dancers from Cirque Du Soliel also step in, providing some of the production's best moments, such as the tornado, the flying monkeys, and the Poppy Girls, which leads me to another one of the production's strengths. The past two productions tried to make everything feel less stage-bound with bigger, fuller sets. The Wiz Live actually pays homage to the musical's stage roots and basically creates the best Broadway theater stage of all time, with video screens behind the actors creating background sets that can change at a moment's notice if need be with amazing backdrops, great effects, and even a floor that can change appearances when necessary. It still feels like you're attending a Broadway theater - just the biggest, best Broadway theater you can build.The video and audio quality of the DVD are decent. My only complaint is that NBC always airs these in early December, then rush-releases the DVD's before Christmas. The problem with that is they don't have time to create subtitles, nor a good quality encode for a simultaneous Blu-Ray release. In my humble opinion, it'd be better to wait to release these until Easter so that they can release a good Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack with subtitles. Maybe release a quickie $10 barebones DVD close to Christmas for those who can't wait or don't care about subtitles, bonus material, and HD, and also announce a Blu-Ray/DVD combo with bonus materials to come out in March for those who would rather wait for such a release. NBC has yet to release their previous two productions on Blu-Ray, which is baffling considering they were broadcast in HD and one can download the HD rips if they only know where to look. There's no excuse for DVD-only releases of HD broadcasts anymore, except maybe to get product on the market ASAP while working on a Blu-Ray version to come out in a few months. Regardless, if you enjoyed the production, you should absolutely pick up this DVD to show your support and let NBC know that they did right by this production - hopefully, the sales will convince them to release a Blu-Ray in the future. At least the DVD does feature logical chapter stops, generally where the commercial breaks were, but doesn't have a chapter menu. I can't say if the previous two productions have those as well, as I don't own those DVD's. As with the previous two specials, this DVD also features the making-of documentary that aired on NBC.The Wiz Live hasn't exactly restored my faith in NBC's new annual tradition of live televised musicals - after all, a broken clock is still right twice a day. Hopefully their choice for 2016's musical will be a good one and they will have learned their lesson from this production that stunt-casting a big name for ratings doesn't do any good if the people watching are spending the entire time snarking on the wooden, stiff, amateur acting (Carrie Underwood, you have a beautiful singing voice and you're a beautiful girl, but don't act anymore, please.) or the fact that one of the main actors isn't even trying and just appears not to give a hoot. (Christopher Walken, you're a legend and a great talent, but why didn't you make ANY effort?) Hopefully for their next musical, they'll continue casting big names with acting AND singing talent, especially for the more important roles that require the most screen time, and continue making bold decisions with costumes, sets, staging, lighting, etc. so that their annual musicals can be something the audience actually enjoys and not something you watch for the snark to post on Twitter.

I LOVED IT!!! Loved it the first time it aired. Funny, colorful, cleverly orchestrated, good music. There's EVERYTHING to like about this production. I never liked or cared for the original Wiz with Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow and Diana Ross as Dorothy -- who I felt was much too old to play Dorothy. 🙄 But this young lady Shanice Williams is absolutely adorable in this. ☺ She is so refreshing with pipes that could blow even a seasoned professional away. Very talented young lady. Every song done with the utmost professionalism considering it was done live on tv. Trying not to make a mistake I'm sure was nerve wrecking for them. Loved the group performances and it would take me too long to go through each and every number lol! They pulled it off without any errors that I could see. So proud of the whole cast. I am glad I found this on Amazon. I just purchased it tonight. Hope they will air this live performance again this holiday season. Something to watch while we're social distancing at home. Any way that's my review. ☺

I recorded this when it first aired, but for some reason my DVR deleted it.( I guess there is a time limit for storing). I really enjoyed this live version of the Wiz. I am a fan of the Wizard of Oz, The Wiz (movie), Wicked (the play) and even Oz the Great and powerful (movie). I was not fortunate enough to see The Wiz on Broadway in 1975 (my next door neighbor saw it, and bragged about it, we were kids). Shanice is from 2 towns away from me, and was wonderful portraying Dorothy, Stephanie Mills as Aunt Em was perfect and sounded great! Ne-yo singing "What would I do if I could feel", wow!Nice to see Queen Latifah and Elijah Kelly (Hairspray) together again, he is very talented! Mary J. Blige's dance during "No bad news" one of her famous steps she used here. I paid $5 for this DVD and got so much for it! Behind the scenes and all.

I so loved the Live performance. I've been looking forward to The Wiz Live! coming out. I remember the first movie of The Wiz coming out so long ago. I became so much more excited when I saw the making of the Live show, so much work and effort everyone made to come close to the Broadway musical.I was not disappointed in any way everyone from the actors, singers, dancers, the talent of Cirque du Soleil being invited to be apart of the performance, all the work of the stage crew to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be, when was it supposed to be and all the star and glitter just finished everything off.The show was presented with talent and the artwork of all involved in the production it was PAR EXCELLENCE!!! I purchased the DVD as soon as I could.

I loved this play when shown on TV and I pull this out and watch it whenever I feel the need to move around and have fun with my granddaughter. She has fallen in love with it also.

Such a beautiful, bright, lively depiction of the original version! The singing is amazing! The various musical genres are totally unexpected, but extremely appreciated!!! To experience African-American actors and singers in a positive light is the absolute best!! David Alan Grier made the best lion and though I have heard him sing before, surprised me yet in still with his talent...and as always, his humor! Ne-yo plays a wonderful tin man. Elijah Kelly has an incredible voice! I love musicals and Broadway plays, so to see this story showcased on the television screen was such a thrill to me! The costumes were amazing and that Emerald Green made me want to dye my hair! I never tire of watching this show!!! Thank you for this!!!

i will watch Wiz i don't any time any day i watch

Really well done! Wonderful show and songs for the whole family!

Order received in good condition.

Awesome 😉