If you weren’t one of the 11.5 million people who watched The Wiz Live last night, you missed out on a glorious gay treat. Like 99.9 percent of all musicals, it was a bit corny and sugary sweet, but there were also a few wickedly funny nods to queer culture that were just subversive enough to fly over the heads of most in middle America who were snuggling up to watch with the kids.
It’s running again on NBC on 12/19 if you missed it (and duh, it’s on Hulu), and here are five reasons why it was much gayer than any of us expected.
(Spoilers for a 40-year-old Broadway musical follow.)
1. The Citizens of Emerald City Gave You Ballroom Realness
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When the gates of Emerald City opened to residents voguing, spinning, and dipping like they’d paid $10 to get in the ball, our TV practically exploded in rainbows. The gays we watched with gagged at the first of multiple death-drops, and the genderf*ck flamboyance of the dancers didn’t seem altered or watered-down for a mainstream audience for a second. If anything, it was heightened. The scene was a brilliant and completely unexpected nod to the vogueing subculture that started in the black gay ballroom scene of the ’70s and ’80s and obviously continues to influence mainstream culture to this day. Work.
https://youtu.be/tJLj5Bxuubo
2. Mary J. Blige Camps It Up
We were ready for our big villain by the time Mary J. Blige stomped onstage, and boy did she give. If ever oh ever there’s a role in The Wiz that calls for going a bit big, it is Evillene and Mary J. Blige didn’t disappoint. She didn’t play “Evillene” so much as she played “the bitchiest version of Mary J. Blige anyone has ever seen,” and it was everything to watch.
It was a scenery chomping performance, and by the time she finished “No Bad News” we wanted the cast rushed offstage for fear of the sets collapsing around them. The most delicious camp is of the unintentional variety, and we were pretty much licking our fingers after her few scenes. Oh yeah, and bonus points for accusing Dorothy of “casting shade.”
https://youtu.be/hzbMGOsHsQo
3. Amber Riley Slays Her Big Song
Amber Riley has been a baby gay icon since the Glee days, and of course she killed it with one of the biggest diva songs of all time. Her big moment here comes early on with “He’s The Wiz” and, well, she did that. Glee was a showcase for some voices that were thinner than others, and even the stronger ones were drowned in studio wizardry, but there was none of that here. If there was any doubt that this girl has a serious set of pipes, they were obliterated by the end of that song. The room we watched with was stunned into silence.
4. Queen Latifah Does Drag
Whether she comes out or not (and who cares?), Queen Latifah has been a lesbian icon for years, and playing the Wiz as a Drag King is only the latest in a long line of queer-positive choices. She snagged an Emmy nod for playing the bisexual blues singer Bessie Smith in HBO’s Bessie (and won one for producing it), and of course she’ll always be known as the gun-toting lesbian badass Cleo in Set It Off, which would be a bold role to take on now let alone nearly 20 years ago when she did it. She tipped her hat to all of her lesbian fans again last night, who now have a new Halloween costume they can wear in honor of the Queen.
5. It’s Basically a Gay Rights Allegory
Dorothy is the original Hag. She travels down a yellow brick road with a fey lion and two single dudes to meet the Wiz…who ends up being a woman in drag who eventually comes out to everyone around her so that she can live the life she always wanted to live. The fact that The Wiz is played by an entertainer who has done everything to confirm her queerness but officially come out is the cherry on top of the gay positive sundae of The Wiz Live in 2015. Reaching? We think not.
Collin Boudreaux
I dunno, the porn I had playing on my TV was pretty gay
Milton Appleby
The gayest thing… thank you for assuming all gays are like this.
Kangol
It was really a great live performance, with only a few weak points (Common speaking his lines as if he were reading cue cards, Mary J. Blige not bringing enough “life” to her Evilene), but over all, outstanding. And yes, that voguing Oz scene and Queen Latifah made it very GAY/QUEER.
Michael Lepper
I find it very alluringly very boring……
rickperryisgay
@Collin Boudreaux: I second that
Aromaeus
I enjoyed it a lot. Ne-Yo as the Tin Man was my favorite.
Jamie Pittman
Id say Ghettoest but not Gayest ð???
Neil Mason
It was pretty. But it eventually just became background noise while we all played cards against humanity.
Bob LaBlah
Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.
And now to give credit where credit is do: I give thanks to Toshiba for making that great 58in HD 3D that I have in my basement and Dish Network for the DVR devices. Thanks to both for making it possible to enjoy this wonderful, made for television musical over and over. I thought ol’ Mary J. nailed it with that “No bad news” number. I knew she was NOT going to top Mabel Kings performance but she set a new standard for the role. For this to have come in live I am really shocked at how good and nearly flawless it was. Better yet, the mistakes can be chalked up to nervousness so fuck it, it was good.
Thanks again, NBC.
mauikamaaina
I saw the original on Broadway with Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, and enjoyed it immensely. After yawning through NBC’s previous live shows of “Sound of Music” and “Peter Pan”, I had lukewarm expectations for this production.
I LOVED it! Shanice Williams, David Alan Grier, and M.J. Blige were stand-outs among excellent performances from a highly talented cast. Derek Maclane’s stage designs and Paul Tazwell’s costumes were glittering yet fresh and original. I definitely look forward to purchasing the DVD and enjoying “The Wiz” live again..and again!
Kevin J Desmond
I made sure my tv was turned off last night.
Ogre Magi
The did a good job with the lion costume, he really looked like a kzinti or some other feline alien
Franklin
@Kevin J Desmond: Well not to worry, 11 million people tuned in for you There was more than enough enjoyable moments in the show for me. I loved Stephanie Mills opening number, and Neyo really did a good job as the Tim man. I always was happy that they kept the song “You can’t get out of the game” in this version of the musical, even though it was created specifically for Michael Jackson. I also like the set design and some of the modern updates they added to the story like the vogue dancing in the Emerald city.
Scott Sherman
How could the Wiz NOT be gay… Just sayin’
RIGay
It was SUPERB! And you forgot to mention the resurrection of the “The Solid Gold Dancers” used for the tornado effect in the beginning!
David Harlem
I don’t know about “gay” but on it’s on artistic merit and production values it was great. On the gay part, the costumes and sets look to me like they were as my now deceased lover would have said, “touched by the hands of a fairy”.
Bob LaBlah
How many of you guys knew Harvey Fierstein was a consultant and added several of the humorous touches? Or that Cirque de Soleil did the acrobats choreography? It look very gay but it was SPECTACULAR.
AtticusBennett
YAAAAAS!
Richard Holaday
If “gay” is the new term for “dumb as hell!” ð??
Ced Ve
It was a homophobic, heterocentrist musical.
Carlos Valerio Santos
bad show, not worth my time
PabloBravo8
I don’t see anything that was inherently homophobic or heterocentric about The Wiz. In fact they included new and old way vogue and Dashaun Wesley, he’s a huge name in the Vogueing scene and on the world stage of dance. And then Queen Latifah’s character was in drag
Calling The Wiz homophobic is like getting mad because there aren’t any white people.
It was a great production, with great singing, dancing and costumes. That’s exactly what I wanted from this.