Many Say “The Wiz” Was “Oz-Some”
The response to last night’s live broadcast appears to be very upbeat. EW says it was “impossible to hate-watch.” THR said it was “Oz-some.” I think people are responding to the material’s fundamental sweetness and the winning ways of the performers, especially Common, Queen Latifah, and my main gal Uzo Aduba, who is Crazy Eyes on “Orange is the New Black” but who can also sing. Personally, I found the broadcast slow-going: the revised book, by Harvey Fierstein, did the material no favors. But the costumes were sprightly and the overall spirit was nice. As Ethel Merman said after she saw (and disliked) Mr. Fierstein’s “Torch Song Trilogy”: “Everybody around me was laughing so what the fuck do I know?”
