The production will be co-produced by Cirque du Soleil’s new stage theatrical division and is set to head to Broadway for a revival (also presented by Cirque du Soleil) during the 2016-17 season. No casting information has been announced thus far.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Cirque du Wiz??
The production will be co-produced by Cirque du Soleil’s new stage theatrical division and is set to head to Broadway for a revival (also presented by Cirque du Soleil) during the 2016-17 season. No casting information has been announced thus far.
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Okay, I’ll admit I might be a little misguided, as my only direct interactions with the Wiz are CMU’s production of it and the movie with Diana Ross. But this just sounds like a terrible idea on NBC’s part. After the raving “success” that Peter Pan was, I really don’t see why they are picking a racially controversial, out of date show to pander to their politically correct, new age audience. And coupling it with Cirque, who are known for their death defying shows, I feel like there is going to be a bleed over here in to Vegas style shows, which really is only minorly appropriate for certain scenes in this show. This whole show really depends on the artistic direction they plan to take it, with the liberal minds that rule the world right now, they could get a lot of backlash for doing this show mixed or even blackface cast. Also if they make a circus out of this, a lot of the older generation could be insulted by the desecration.
I did not see that coming! I have now seen two productions of The Wiz (including ours). I did not know that it one a bunch of Tonys when it came out, but my general sense of the show was that it wasn’t really that great. Our particular production was somewhat uncoordinated, but the professional production was still kind of odd. I wonder if there is some secret to doing that show well. I would not think that NBC would pick kind of an odd, less well known musical to do for their live event. And I certainly did not expect Cirque to get into the Broadway business with something that isn’t a circus/acrobatic type show. Hopefully this production of the wiz will be particularly movement based and visually stunning, that would make it cool. Cirque really should open a New York show like O or Ka.
All I could think about when I first saw this announcement was, "I really really really hope that they don't mess this up". I think what NBC is doing is smart, and bringing in massive viewership, as "The Sound Of Music Live!" brought in over 18 million live viewers, however potentially destructive towards the image of musical theatre in the mainstream. While I'm happy that they decided on "The Wiz" instead of "The Music Man", I hope that they actually put some relevant social material behind it and cast this thing properly. I hope they're intelligent enough to realize that they could really spark some serious criticism by choosing to do an all black musical without adapting it to fit todays issues. Not to mention, for those who choose to watch the program without having a vast knowledge of musical theatre, this could really skew their thoughts on what musical theatre is like. Because this content is so accessible to those who may not normally go out and buy a ticket to the theatre, NBC has a serious responsibility in making our community look good.
I don’t understand why Cirque would ever consider putting on a production of The Wiz. I have heard this being said more often, and I finally agree that shows should only be put on if something new is going to be added to it or it makes a political statement relevant to the current time period. Cirque is extremely good at what it does, and it does not do musicals. Cirque branching out from the circus world seems like a horrible idea that will crash and burn and lose the company a ton of money. Also, Peter Pan LIVE! was such a flop of a show. Why would anyone want to see The Wiz done put on in the same style of production? Back to the idea of politics: what would Cirque say that makes putting on this show relevant? Cirque puts on pure entertainment, not political shows. This is probably going to be a disappointing show which does not address any current issues (although it would be so easy to do).
I think that this is going to be a truly spectacular entertainment event of the year. There is so much potentially for some very unique and incredible theatre and TV to be shared with the world. What is so great about the Wiz is that it is so choppy and not cohesive because it’s script is set up like a film. Because one of the goals of the production is to play for a television audience there are some aspects that will make more sense than on stage. However, let us all be completely honest, what we are really excited for is to see what Cirque De Sole does. The works that they produce is truly breath taking and are consistently pushing the limits of what can be done on stage in front of a live audience. Also by attaching such a powerful name with this broadcast changes the way that people look at it completely. For the first time I am excited for one of these live musical broadcasts.
I don’t know how well the Wiz will go over as NBC’s next big musical, it’s exciting to hear that Cirque is getting involved with mainstream theatrical entertainment, but I’m not sure that NBC’s primetime musicals are the best starting point. NBC’s last two musicals, the Sound of Music and Peter Pan have both been epic flops in my mind. With cheesy scenic design, weak acting and the awkward placement of half-celebrity stars that can’t fulfill their roles NBC’s televised musicals seem to be poor executions of a strong idea. I mean why not broadcast live theater for all to see? It sounds great, but only so long as the show is good, and thus far it hasn’t been. While NBC has been producing these sad excuses for theater, Cirque on the other hand has grown a reputation for creating amazing live theatrical events. The sheer scope and scale of every one of their shows is awe inspiring, but I’m skeptical about how well they will be able to deliver that alongside NBC’s musical. Maybe Cirque will raise NBC’s standards this show will be successful, but I think this will more than likely be a partnership Cirque soon regrets. I believe this will especially hold true, since the upcoming musical is set to be the Wiz, a musical that is grounded in an African American perspective which I’m not sure will go over well in such racially turbulent times. NBC must tread carefully with this production because they run both the risk of saying too much, and not enough at all.
I can't say I have high hopes for this production, even with the Cirque partnership. I can, of course, get onboard with the desire to share theatre with a larger audience, but I have never once enjoyed an NBC Live show. The whole point of the theatre is to arrive and be immersed in a new world without being brought back into the one you started in, but a TV special brings with it commercials, a screen in front of your face, and in all cases so far, an incredible amount of live tweeting. The shows so far have been incredibly misguided from what they started as, turning into bubbly, romanticized, unrealistic, poorly acted versions of what they always have been, turning the entire TV watching world against the stories they might have loved in a theatre. I can guarantee the exact same thing is going to happen here. A partnership with Cirque is going to give the show more publicity (larger audience to fail in front of), and probably blow the needs of the show out of proportion, taking what was once a musical and turning it into an event. I would say that I won't bother watching, but I probably will so I know what my friends are trash talking about on Twitter.
I really do not know how I feel about this. We were having a discussion about this article in class and we all came to a similar conclusion that these NBC live action musicals have a really high amount of viewers and for a great deal of those viewers it is the only way that they see theatre. These –I’m sorry to say- but poorly made TV musicals are giving the theatre world a bad reputation. I think that TV needs to stick to TV and leave theatre to make the impression on theatre that it wants. The Wiz is already an iffy plot to try to mess with as we have seen and having it be produced by Cirque du Solieil I can only foresee as being a mess. I also don’t know how I feel about having this production move to Broadway following the NBC take off. If they see it on TV they wouldn’t want to pay to see it in theatres.
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