The Wiz Live on NBC

Pictured: (l-r) David Alan Grier as Lion, Shanice Williams as Dorothy, Elijah Kelley as Scarecrow, Common as The Bouncer.

 

NBC

Welcome to Speakeasy’s live blog for NBC’s “The Wiz Live.” Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

It’s a brand new day for “The Wiz” – and the stakes are high.

The original Broadway production was a hit, winning seven Tony Awards in 1975, including best musical. But on the big screen, the 1978 movie version was a flop.

In creating a 2015 version for television, director Kenny Leon and executive producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan wisely decided to stick close to the original for good reason: This show is headed back to Broadway in the 2016-2017 season, as a production of Cirque du Soleil Theatrical, which has also partnered on the TV broadcast.

With the intention already stated to transfer to Broadway from TV, if this “Wiz” loses the magic, it’s a problem — but one that can be fixed with the tinkering that always goes into Broadway shows.

As a TV broadcast, though, this event will be measured against NBC’s two previous endeavors, which had dramatically different results: “The Sound of Music” in 2013 drew 18 million viewers; “Peter Pan” in 2014 drew about 9 million.

“The first year was a total experiment. No one had done a live musical in 50 years, Zadan said at a press conference. “The second year, we found out something that we didn’t know. The Peter Pan story seemed to have overstayed its welcome. Something has changed in the culture. We didn’t know that at the time.”

With this production, a constellation of stars of music, stage and screen are on tap to help. Queen Latifah is The Wiz. Mary J. Blige is Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West. David Alan Grier brings his limitless personality to the Cowardly Lion. Recording artist Ne-Yo plays the Tin Man. And traveling down the road for the journey of her life is teenage newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy.

If they ease on down the road successfully, more live theater on TV is sure to follow.