Natalia Nemen Temesgen: Big win for TV's 'Wiz Live!'
Third time was a charm on Thursday when NBC aired its annual live musical production. "The Wiz Live!" was met with high Nielsen ratings, 11.5 million viewers, and the largest number of tweets ever
recorded for a live broadcast, few of which were negative.
I've watched both previous NBC live shows -- "The Sound of Music" and "Peter Pan" -- and I have not been so impressed by one as I was last Thursday. No surprise, as this was basically a dress rehearsal for a Broadway run in 2016.
Dorothy was expertly played by 19-year-old Shanice Williams. The Scarecrow was played by Elijah Kelley, who was raised just up the road in LaGrange.
Celebrity wattage came from Queen Latifah as The Wiz, David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion, Ne-Yo as the Tin Man, and Mary J. Blige as Evilene, the Wicked Witch of the West.
And the chorus was outstanding -- featuring Cirque de Soleil dancers and Broadway singers, they didn't miss a beat.
Design elements wowed with vast digital backdrops, beautiful set pieces, well-placed lighting and costumes that made your best Halloween effort look like scraps. An example: Glinda the Good Witch wore a gold dress covered in fiber optic fringe. She literally lit up the stage.
At the helm was Tony-winning director and Atlanta's own Kenny Leon. Leon's direction felt as electric as live theater should, but still as intimate as television requires. That has been a very tough balance to strike for the past two shows.
On the whole, NBC Live! shows have always suffered at the hand of the dreaded and extremely regular "commercial break." Imagine if during "Beauty and the Beast" at the Springer, right after the big opening song, some car salesman comes out and tells you about the best deals going on now. It's distracting and pulls you out of the flow of the story.
That said, I made good use of those breaks to take to Twitter and both contribute to and enjoy the thoughts of other viewers.
And Twitter and Facebook may be the solution to another problem of this format: the lack of a live audience. Many viewers complain about the strange silence after a musical number, when you'd normally hear applause. But when you watch with America online, you generate a different kind of applause with your tweets and posts.
I'm thrilled that "The Wiz" was such a success. It was essentially free to watch, of a high caliber and family friendly -- which meant that families with access to NBC were able to enjoy a live Broadway show from their living rooms.
This is huge when you consider the ticket prices that will soon be slapped on the very same production once it hits New York next year.
It was especially appreciated during a time of such national grief and mourning. Amidst terrifying headlines and depressing newsreels, "The Wiz Live!" stood apart and reminded us of the love of family, the support of friends and the hope that elevates us from the despair of our realities and helps us see a different picture.
It did just what good art should do: unifies, heals and inspires.
Natalia Naman Temesgen is an independent contractor. Contact her at nntemesgen@gmail.com
This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 9:11 PM with the headline "Natalia Nemen Temesgen: Big win for TV's 'Wiz Live!' ."