Despite a scene-stealing turn by Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers over on CBS, NBC’s presentation of “The Wiz Live!” delivered solid numbers, giving the Peacock its strongest Thursday night results in almost two years.
Advertisement
NEW YORK (AP) – NBC reached 11.1 million viewers for its live production of “The Wiz” on Thursday night.
The musical starring Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, and newcomer Shanice Williams was a ratings success for NBC, and it was celebrated on social media. This was higher than NBC’s previous effort, “Peter Pan Live!”.
NBC’s casting of Williams to play Dorothy in The Wiz Live was a brilliant move. The twister Dorothy got caught up in was brought to life by an ensemble cast of dancers, and the poppies were no longer just enchanting flowers.
The ratings for “The Wiz Live!” bear out the tweets-don’t-equal-ratings maxim.
A large part of the credit for this successful stab at musical theatre is owed to NBC for a smart choice of source material.
“By itself, the hashtag “#TheWiz”, the tag NBC promoted on-screen during the telecast, generated 6.5 billion impressions, meaning tweets using that tag were seen 6.5 billion times. Emmy-winner Uzo Aduba made viewers forget her turn as Crazy Eyes in Orange is the New Black with a powerhouse performance as Good Witch Glinda, belting out the signature tune “Believe in Yourself”. The exhilarating, moving, ambitious, and vibrant production of the 1975 Tony-winning reworking of “The Wizard of Oz” banished the ghosts of Christmases past – leaden versions of “The Sound of Music” and “Peter Pan” – within minutes of its 2-hour-and-45-minute running time. “Possibly the whitest white man who’s ever lived“, he wrote. Still, NBC’s “The Wiz Live!” was its best primetime musical performance yet.
Queen Latifah and Common headed to the Emerald City last night (Dec. 3).
Advertisement
All those that worked under the witch celebrate with a song and dance to Brand New Day. Click your heels together and catch it here.
