Todrick Hall - Straight Outta Oz

[Alexander Lamar]

Has anyone else watched this? I don't typically follow Todrick (find him mostly annoying) but saw that Shoshana Bean posted about this and have to say, I really enjoyed it. Clearly inspired by LEMONADE. Quite a few celeb cameos as well. Ok, they are B-C list celebs, but stillI had no idea he commanded that type of attention. Posting from my phone so don't know how to embed the video. 

https://youtu.be/O1YEYOTUxcg

 

 

[TheatreFan4]

Wizard of Oz inspired? Beyonce Inspired? I bet if I actually watched it it'd be Disney inspires too, but I'm not gonna do that. 

One. Trick. Pony.

And scam artist.

[Alexander Lamar]

What scam did he pull? I saw people saying that in the ailments but no one said what. 

And yes, definitely Wizard of Oz inspired. IDK about Disney. 

And OH YEAH, it's an hour long. I forgot to mention that. 

[SNAFU]

Couldn't make it halfway through the first song.

 

[TheatreFan4]

What scam did he pull? I saw people saying that in the ailments but no one said what. 

http://television.gearlive.com/tvenvy/article/q107-american-idol-9-did-todrick-hall-scam-a-bunch-of-kids/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2050517994/oz-the-musical/comments

[Jordan Catalano]

I got through the commercial that played before it, and that was enough for me. 

[Alexander Lamar]

Damn. What a crook. 

[DottieD'Luscia]

Can't stomach him, but his Broadway peeps are certainly enamoured

[Jane2]

I think he's the guy who Abby Lee Miller brought in each time she wanted her dance team to do hip hop..The kids would go wild for him when he appeared.

[John Adams]

He's really kind of trapped in his infatuation with The Wizard of Oz, right? I can see why the "one-trick-pony" comment was applied.

I was pretty disappointed by what I read after googling for "scam" info. It looked to me like he'd been connected to the same issue in more than one instance, yet claimed to be unaccountable because he was "only the director", or "out of town".  As there were kids involved, I find that pretty inexcusable - especially given the "poor me" theme he exploits regarding his own childhood in the video.

Too bad. I think he's pretty talented, and in spite of how trite and self-indulgent most of the video is, there are some bright elements. I loved the costuming/fashions throughout, especially his schoolboy suits (the 'clouds' suit, the gingham, the blue, etc.). Overall, I thought the video was visually very impressive.

I also enjoyed the choreography and the guest artists. His duet with Jay Armstrong Johnson (Color) was sweet, although its theme was slightly juvenile ("when I'm with you, I don't see color". I thought the best guest artist was Nicole Scherzinger who really sang the hell out that song (Papi). But again, a number with really immature lyrics ("I've never touched a breast and she's got two!".

The number Green was pretty much a direct steal from Wicked, but Wrong Bitch was campy and fun (the black, sparkly make-up was attention-grabbing).

I think it would be fair to say that this video is a decent reflection of Toderick Hall. Very talented singer/dancer, visually attractive in some fabulous suits, make-up and settings, surrounded by equal talent and beauty, but at the heart? Needs to grow up a bit.

[Kad]

Infatuation with Wizard of Oz and Disney films. His whole schtick is doing campy takes on both properties. He's basically been mining the same ground, over and over and over, for years. There's just a sense of... easiness to it all. Hell, he managed to do TWO parodies of "Belle" that relied exclusively on stereotypes for comedy.

[Bettyboy72]

He actually stole the Belle parody from Wendy Ho who had done it a good 5 years before him. He ended up apologizing to her on Twitter. He's a total scammer. 

[Dave28282]

I think that "Papi" song is kind of awesome. Especially Nicole Scherzinger.