NBC is banking on a live retelling of the Wizard of Oz story in musical form, an adaptation of the 1975 Broadway Musical “The Wiz,” to break through the clutter of broadcast, streaming and DVR options. “The Wiz Live!” (tape delayed in this time zone) will air at 6-9:45 p.m. Thursday on KUSA-Channel 9.
In the crowded entertainment landscape, where broadcasters compete with Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, on-demand content and screens everywhere, all the time, a live “event” is the rare thing that can spark widespread, in-the-moment interest. Sports telecasts and awards shows cash in on the live aspect; musicals aim to follow suit. The industry even has a terrible word for the push to capture audiences through live, one-time-only productions: They aim to “eventize” TV offerings.
“The Wiz Live!” specifically boasts an exclamation point to emphasize that it’s an actual stage performance, not pre-taped, although certain orchestra tracks may be.
The strategy worked for 2013’s “The Sound of Music;” less so for 2014’s
NBC knows social media is a key ingredient in drawing a crowd these days, and the Twitter-verse comes alive to boost attention during live events. Part of the draw is the knowledge that anything can go wrong.
If an actor flubs a line or misses a cue, if a prop fails or a piece of scenery falls, the blogosphere can be relied upon to go wild. That buzz, in turn, is expected to drive more eyeballs to what the networks call “the mothership,” the old-fashioned TV delivery of their shows.
The communal element of a nation watching a live TV production in real time, a throwback to the early days of the medium, gives it added cachet. But the ratings have gone off a cliff since Carrie Underwood’s Maria in “The Sound of Music Live!” drew 18.6 million viewers. Allison Williams’ turn as the boy who won’t grow up in “Peter Pan Live!” drew about half that, 9.1 million viewers.
We’ll see if the novelty of a live stage broadcast works magic this year for (as the Wiz), (Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West), (Glinda the Good Witch), David Alan Grier (the Cowardly Lion), (the Tin Man), Elijah Kelley (the Scarecrow), Common (Gatekeeper of the Emerald City) and Stephanie Mills (who originated the role of Dorothy in The Wiz, as Aunt Em) in “The Wiz Live!”
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or @ostrowdp
