But will the TV cast be included in the new production? These amateur comedians drew most inspiration from the residents of Emerald City and the absence of ToTo from the land of Oz.
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The producers of The Wiz Live are talking about their plans to bring the show to Broadway next year and if any cast members will be involved.
“In kids 2-11 (3.2 rating), “The Wiz Live!” generated NBC’s highest-rated night for any night of the week, excluding sports, in 11 years, since November 22, 2004 (3.2 with a special Thanksgiving “Fear Factor” and “$25 Million Dollar Hoax”) and matching NBC’s top non-sports night among kids since the night of the “Friends” series finale, May 6, 2004 (5.5).
This Nov. 30, 2015, image released by NBC shows Queen Latifah as The Wiz during a dress rehearsal of “The Wiz Live!’ in NY”.
Overall the public enjoyed The Wiz Live and NBC got huge ratings.
It’s a brand new day for live musicals on TV: NBC’s The Wiz Live! Charlie Smalls’ score includes “Ease on Down the Road”, “No Bad News” and “Home”.
But it was nowhere near the 18.6 million who dashed through the Alps with Carrie Underwood on “Sound of Music Live!”, which kicked off NBC’s live-musical journey in 2013.
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“The Wiz” accounted for 128 million Twitter impressions on Thursday night, a total more than both “Peter Pan Live!” and “The Sound of Music Live!” “We should think it through and figure out what the next choice should be in the progression of, ‘What do you follow The Wiz with so we can keep moving forward and not backward?'” And for those still annoyed by the copious ad breaks, NBC Universal will be bringing the production back to Broadway for the 2016-17 season, where viewers will be able to see it live and ad-free (for $60-150).
