The Wiz Live
Recommended
Though we’re all familiar with the Judy Garland version, there have been approximately three billion other adaptations of The Wizard of Oz, and NBC’s 2015 broadcast of The Wiz Live might actually be the best??? Judge for yourself this weekend when it’s available to stream for 48 hours.
Andrew Lloyd Weber’s company has been posting a new stage-to-screen show (nearly) every Friday as part of an ongoing fundraiser for various worthy causes (this week it's the NAACP), and while nobody was in the mood for Peter Pan Live last weekend (which they canceled), now seems like a great time for an all-Black musical about the power of community and found family.
Even if you’re not an Oz fan, there’s so much to love in this live version: The cast is fantastic, the Cirque du Soleil dancers bring pizzazz, and Harvey Fierstein’s teleplay fixes a lot of the problems from the original text. (Dorothy’s choice to leave Oz actually makes sense in this one!) MATT BAUME
Andrew Lloyd Weber’s company has been posting a new stage-to-screen show (nearly) every Friday as part of an ongoing fundraiser for various worthy causes (this week it's the NAACP), and while nobody was in the mood for Peter Pan Live last weekend (which they canceled), now seems like a great time for an all-Black musical about the power of community and found family.
Even if you’re not an Oz fan, there’s so much to love in this live version: The cast is fantastic, the Cirque du Soleil dancers bring pizzazz, and Harvey Fierstein’s teleplay fixes a lot of the problems from the original text. (Dorothy’s choice to leave Oz actually makes sense in this one!) MATT BAUME