BWW Column: Three Simple Ways to Improve Upon Success of THE WIZ LIVE!

By: Dec. 10, 2015
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Now that we are a week removed from last Thursday's THE WIZ LIVE!, NBC's third live musical in as many years, we know that the production has predominantly been hailed as a critical and ratings success, vindicating the audacious experiment after two, less than artistically satisfying, outings. Led by a newcomer plucked from an open call, director Kenny Leon and executive producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan found a star in Shanice Williams and surrounded her with an all-star cast that ranged from serviceable to revelatory. However, as enjoyable as the event was, especially in relationship to past efforts, THE WIZ LIVE! was not a perfect production. There is, after all, a reason why no one did live TV musicals for nearly half a century; they are hard.

(Read my full review of THE WIZ LIVE! here.)

So, I offer Meron and Zadan, assuming they continue with the project, three simple changes that I think can improve upon the strides made by THE WIZ. I know that at least two of my suggestions have nearly no chance of being adopted by the network, but as theatre fans, we all have a stake in seeing these productions succeed. The more people that see live musical theatre on TV, the larger the pool of potential audience members in actual brick and mortar theaters becomes.

The reason that I am going to suggest three simple changes is because the things that are mostly likely to make the network's fourth live musical even bigger and better than this year's are all really, really hard, and I don't get paid enough to make those decisions!

Obviously, selecting the right show is huge key No. 1. Despite what every armchair producer says, it's not easy to find something with the appropriate level of positive name recognition and widespread appeal to attract a large number of viewers, especially in the key 18-49 demo. Also, casting a big enough star (or preferably a collection of stars) to lead said selection is a massive undertaking. Between coordinating rehearsal schedules, matching parts to abilities, and hoping that they don't forget all of their lines and just meander around the stage for most of the show, there are so many moving parts, that it is easy to understand why it took people with significant experience on both stage and screen, like Meron, Zadan, and NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt, to make this happen in the first place.

So, I am going to leave the tough decisions to the professionals, and I am going to suggest three basic changes that I think am confident would make a significant difference, but likely have no chance of ever happening.

1) A Live Audience


Recently Meron and Zadan have publically repeated their stance that they will never do one of their live network musicals in front of an audience. Their contention is that they want these productions to harken back to the Golden Age of live TV musicals. As someone who grew up watching VHS recordings of Lesley Ann Warren's CINDERELLA and the 1960 Mary Martin PETER PAN, I appreciate their nostalgia for this bygone era. However, based off of what Rodgers and Hammerstein President Ted Chapin told me last month, the lack of an audience wasn't necessarily done for a purity of art, but instead simply because they didn't have the technical ability to pull off the show believably in front of an audience.

In Julie Andrews' famed production of CINDERELLA, Chapin said that the special effects of her magically changing into her ball gown were a sparkler held in front of the camera, and a shot moving up from her glass slippers slowly enough that the hair and costume people were able to finish by the time the camera made its way up to her face.

Shanice Williams, Uzo Aduba, Amber Riley, Ne-Yo,
Elijah Kelley, David Alan Grier in THE WIZ LIVE!
Photo Credit: Virginia Sherwood | NBC

Additionally, Derek McLane's sets for THE WIZ, which included multiple floor-to-ceiling LED screens, completely negated the need to have multiple soundstages, which were used extensively in the previous generation's live musicals, as well as in THE SOUND OF MUSIC and PETER PAN LIVE!

Beyond the logistical concerns, the greatest argument for bringing an audience into the live productions is simply that without one, the whole exercise feels a bit hollow. After a huge production number, it just feels wrong to bounce straight back into dialogue without the opportunity to clap. It feels weird to listen to silence after what is actually a pretty funny joke, or worse yet, to have to stop yourself from laughing or clapping because you are afraid that you will miss something.

One of the reasons that these live musicals have become the successes that they have (and despite the most cynical voices amongst us, there are far more levels upon which they have succeeded than they have failed) is because they are joyful. No matter the story, these productions are brightly colored, they are vivid, and they bring a childlike excitement to audiences of all ages. As we get older, and theoretically more knowledgeable, we often forget what it means to be swept up in the excitement of something special. These live musicals are special, I want to get swept up, I want to clap, I want to laugh, but their current, isolated format conditions audiences to avoid these emotions.

Think about it, other than the nightly news, can you name anything live that is worth watching that doesn't have an audience?

My final reason for incorporating an audience is that I want to see theses casts take a bow. The ending of THE WIZ LIVE! was considerably stilted. Not knowing the show incredibly well, when Dorothy ran into the arms of Auntie Em, and they quickly went to commercial, I didn't know if the show was over, or if there was another scene.

Not only would a curtain call give the live audience, presumably made up of friends and family of the cast and crew, the opportunity to tangibly acknowledge their loved ones' months of hard work, but it would allow the audiences at home to do so in their own ways. I know that the people that I watched with said that they wished they could have clapped while the cast bowed as well.

Plays and musicals aren't like movies, where the rolling of credits is enough to bring closure. In live theatre, even done on TV, there is a relationship established between the performers and the audience. The performers have their say for the first two hours and 43 minutes, and the audience deserves the chance to say thank you in the final two.

2) Two Hour Productions


Ironically, even though Meron and Zadan have expressly put the kibosh on my first suggestion, I think that my second actually has an even less likely chance of being implemented. Let's face it, these live musicals are extremely expensive to produce. From the all-star cast, to the intricate sets and costumes, to the hundreds of crew members running the operation behind the scenes, to rights, to rehearsal time, and everything else under the sun, these things ain't cheap, and the only way that expensive TV shows get paid for, is by making beaucoup bucks on commercials.

Did you feel like there were almost as many minutes of ads as there was of singing as the show went on? It has been widely reported that despite PETER PAN LIVE!'s precipitous ratings decline, advertisers were lining up to buy commercial time in this year's broadcast, and buoyed by the ratings rebound which brings it increasingly closer to THE SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE! territory, that trend is not likely to change anytime soon.

I admit that I was surprised that THE WIZ ran only 2:45, as opposed to the three hours that the previous two productions did. However, I have to wonder if there is a more advertiser-friendly way to spend those extra 15 minutes than giving them back to the affiliates for additional local news time. Would Reddi-wip, the show's main sponsor, have paid for the curtain call, or interviews as the cast is walking off of the set, a la football coaches leaving the field?

Imagine if an NBC camera had caught this adorably viral moment with an advertiser's banner overhead. Would that have been worth cutting a block of commercials out of the broadcast?


If NBC continues to do fancy musicals with fancy casts and fancy sets and fancy costumes, it is going to have to be worth it for them financially; but I think it would behoove them to find ways to make their money while also making the experience more compact and enjoyable for their audience, especially if these presumably family-friendly events are going to continue to be on school nights.

3) Better Camera Work


When I was in high school and college, I worked on the student television stations. I tell you this not because I want you to think I am expert in this topic, but instead to illustrate that I actually have no idea what I am talking. We used cameras that recorded on VHS tapes when I was in school. Absent of any actual knowledge, all I have is my own perception and whatever I could find on Yahoo Answers!

With that out of the way, am I the only one who thinks that the image that appears on our screens in these live broadcasts looks somehow amateur? I did speak to a colleague with a film degree, and she suggested that what I was seeing might have to do with lighting. In filmed works, the crew has the ability to move lighting around for each individual scene, insuring that every shot is lit in the ideal way. However, for live broadcasts, the crew does not have that luxury, so they must settle for their scene being awash in light to compensate for all potential camera angles.

My friend said this results in the image appearing flat, apparently a big no-no for film folks. Some random internet posters also suggested that it has to do with the frame per second rate of recording onto film (for taped) vs. onto digital (for live). Obviously, I don't know what standard operating procedure is for filming a mega-ly expensive TV show, but you can always tell when something is live vs. taped. Think about it; on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, isn't it always obvious from the first moment of a scene, whether or not it is live on the stage or a pre-taped piece? That's what I'm talking about.

I have no idea how to fix this issue, but I would have to think that NBC, with all of the money being made through commercials, has a system, or a filter, or something that can give the television product a deeper, more professional quality.

Queen Latifah and the company of THE WIZ LIVE!
Photo Credit: Virginia Sherwood | NBC

On a related note, the television directing of this year's show was horrendous. From shots obstructed by trees, to camera men visible in the first song, to odd close-ups during full-cast ensemble numbers, little of it made sense. TV director Matthew Diamond has been directing broadcasts for almost as long as I've been alive, including many high quality, live programs. So, perhaps this was an unfortunate fluke. But, for next year, I hope that he (or whomever sits in his seat) allows the audience to see and appreciate all of the wonderful ensemble members when they are performing.

Obviously, one of the major benefits of a television broadcast over a stage show is the ability to intimately see the expressions and emotions of the actors on screen in a way that you can't while sitting in an obstructed view seat in the rear mezz of a theater. So, use those close-ups in the more emotional moments, use those close-ups when an actor has a funny facial reaction, use those close-ups when an actor is belting a solo.

Conversely, one of the major benefits of a stage show over a television broadcast is the ability to see the full stage picture that the director has created; to be able to take it all in with one panoramic view. If the camera is so focused on one actor's face during full-company dance numbers, the audience is robbed of the opportunity to experience the entire tableau.

Next month, FOX is going to take its turn with a live musical as GREASE LIVE! hits the airwaves. Rumor has it that they are contemplating broadcasting in front of a live studio audience, and the network's traditional primetime window is just from 8:00pm-10:00pm ET. So, it is completely possible that we could see FOX enact one, or both, of my first two suggestions, neither of which do I think has any shot of happening on NBC. Who knows, perhaps the T-Birds and Pink Ladies will teach Messrs Meron and Zadan a thing or two!

What would you do to improve the quality of NBC's live TV musicals? Let me know in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt. If you want to follow along with my "366 in 366" articles, you can check out #BWW366in366 on Twitter. Also, don't forget to follow @BWWTVWorld on Twitter and Like us on Facebook for all of the latest TV news, reviews, and recaps.

Banner Image: Amber Riley, Shanice Williams, Elijah Kelley, and David Alan Grier in THE WIZ LIVE! Photo Credit: Virginia Sherwood | NBC


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