'The Wiz Live!' Defied The Skeptics, Returns For A Second Round

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Finally, today, we end on a joyful musical moment. And you can admit this now - when NBC announced "The Wiz," the African-American version of "The Wizard Of Oz" that had a previous life as a hit Broadway musical and a movie, would be revived as a live television production, did you groan? The network's earlier musical revivals became prime targets for hate watchers. But "The Wiz" seems to have broken that spell. When it aired earlier this month, it earned 11.5 million viewers and became the most-tweeted live special program on record. Led by Tony award-winning director Kenny Leon, the production featured beloved showstoppers, like "Brand New Day."

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "THE WIZ LIVE!")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) Can you feel a brand new day? Can't you feel a brand new day?

MARTIN: And NBC is giving viewers a brand-new chance to join the fun with a special rebroadcast of "The Wiz Live!" tonight. So we thought this was a good time to check in with Shanice Williams, who had a huge breakout moment as Dorothy. Also with us is Grammy-winning artist Ne-Yo, who played the Tin Man. He didn't just perform in the musical. He also wrote an original new song for it called "We Got It." Welcome, Shanice.

SHANICE WILLIAMS: Hi. How are you?

MARTIN: And Ne-Yo, welcome to you as well.

NE-YO: Thank you. Thank you, happy to be here.

MARTIN: Shanice, I don't want to embarrass you, but we want to play a little sound from your audition tape for this part, and here it is.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WILLIAMS: My name is Shanice Shaunte (ph) Scales Williams. (Singing)You're standing strong...

I saw that NBC was doing "The Wiz." And I was, like, this is going to be a perfect learning experience.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WILLIAMS: (Singing) ...And trying and trying...

KENNY LEON: For the NBC "Wiz Live!," you are Dorothy.

(APPLAUSE)

WILLIAMS: I'm just doing what I love.

(Singing) Your own way...

Mama, I have to tell you something...

ANDREA SCALES: yes.

WILLIAMS: I got the part.

SCALES: Oh, my goodness, you did? I love you.

WILLIAMS: I love you, too.

MARTIN: Wow.

NE-YO: Yeah.

MARTIN: So I - what was that like for you?

WILLIAMS: Yeah.

MARTIN: I mean, I have to tell you, I was kind of tearing up when you got that part. You've had parts in local productions, but this is your biggest professional part yet. What was it like when it hit you that you would be carrying the show?

WILLIAMS: First of all, they told me that I was coming back into the room because something had happened with my mic, and we had to do it all over again. So when Kenny told me I got the part, I was really shocked. (Laughter) And I was like this is - like, I'm dreaming right now. But it's really - it was amazing. The most amazing feeling I've ever felt in my life.

MARTIN: Is there a moment when you thought OK, I'm going to do my part, but I'm also going to be alongside Ne-Yo, Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, David Alan Grier. I mean, was there ever a moment when that all sunk in?

WILLIAMS: Of course. Like, I found out about who my cast mates were going to be on Twitter along with everyone. So I remember I was walking through the park jogging one time, and I was like oh, my gosh. When they had announced Ne-Yo and Elijah, I was just like - I almost passed out. So thankfully, we've all became like a family...

NE-YO: Definitely.

WILLIAMS: ...And they've taught me so much

NE-YO: Definitely, baby sis, absolutely.

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: Well, Ne-Yo, what about you? You're a very accomplished artist. But this is new to you as well. This is your first, you know, theatrical part. What about you?

NE-YO: I had a ball with the whole thing, man. I - when I initially went in, you know, for the part of the Scarecrow - that's what I actually took time to study for and really go in and give a full-fledged audition for - while I was in the audition, they just kind of threw the Tin Man at me, like, hey, I know you didn't really study for this at all. But do you think you can go in the back for 10 minutes and just see what you can give to the Tin Man? I'm like all right, fine. So when I got the call and they told me about the Tin Man, it was cool. But at the same time, I was like man, all right, who got the Scarecrow then? Dang.

WILLIAMS: (Laughter).

MARTIN: For those who don't know, Michael Jackson played the Scarecrow in the movie version, which is as loved as the Broadway version.

NE-YO: Michael Jackson is a huge, huge, huge part of the inspiration for me just being an artist to begin with. So I just - you know, just in paying homage to him, I went in and, you know, went out for that role

MARTIN: You know, also though for you, Ne-Yo, this was the third live musical production in the NBC series. And as I mentioned earlier, let's face it, you know, critics and fans have been less than kind about the first two, "The Sound Of Music" and "Peter Pan." I was wondering if your agent or any of your friends even said you don't need this. Did you feel like you were taking a chance by participating in this?

NE-YO: Definitely felt like I was taking a chance, but - as did my management and my agents and everything. But I told them the importance of "The Wiz" to me, how important it was to me to be a part of this legacy. When they told me about Kenny Leon, who is directing it, and Neil, the guys putting it together, I right away felt - felt a calm. Like, I didn't feel like anything was going to go wrong. Like, I know that the haters were there and the skeptics were there and everybody was just basically waiting on us to mess up. That kind of created pressure that just made us do that much better. We basically knew that we were going to get out there, we were going to do what we had to do. We knew we were.

MARTIN: You not only performed in the show, but also wrote a new song for it that also got some wonderful reception. Let me just play a teeny bit of that.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "THE WIZ LIVE!")

WILLIAMS: (As Dorothy, singing) In the night it's so cold dark and lonely. All you've got to do is look at me and hear what I say. We've got it. I got you. So we got it, we got it, together we do...

MARTIN: How did that come about?

NE-YO: Kenny sat me down, and, you know, he had done some stuff with the Broadway production. And he said that there was always a part in the story where the four friends had basically told, you know, in order to get your wishes granted, you've got to kill the Wicked Witch of the West. And he felt like there always needed to be a song right there that kind of spoke to what the dynamic of just hearing that kind of news is. So at the point, you kind of see the four friends for the first time just doubting the whole situation. You know, in the song, it's Dorothy that actually rallies the troops and gets everybody together and lets it be known that in order to make this happen, we've got to work together. And if we work together, there's nothing we can't accomplish.

MARTIN: This is not an original thought on my part, but the fact that it's so funny because your songs are sort of known for their passion, right, that your character is the guy who doesn't have a heart. So how did you understand him?

NE-YO: Well, that kind of speaks to the premise of the story. The Scarecrow was under the impression that he had no brain, yet every scheme that got them to where they were trying to go was thought up by the Scarecrow. You know, the Tin Man was under the oppression that he didn't have a heart, yet he was the most heartfelt character, the most - he was Dorothy's protector, like, through the whole thing. So I didn't really have to put myself in a place of OK, how do I play a character that doesn't have a heart? It's how do I play a character that's not aware of his heart? You know, that was more the important thing. And...

MARTIN: That speaks to a lot of men, isn't it - doesn't it? I mean...

NE-YO: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

MARTIN: I mean, for people, I should say. It's there; they just don't know how to express it.

NE-YO: It's there; we just have a tendency to ignore it or let other things be more important than - when in actuality, nothing should be more important than. But, I mean - but that's for another time.

MARTIN: Go ahead - well, speaking of inspiring passion, not only was the show the most-tweeted live special on record, according to Nielsen, but the most-tweeted moment was when the Tin Man hit the dab.

WILLIAMS: Hit the dab.

MARTIN: Hit the dab.

NE-YO: Yeah, yeah. When they put the dab in the choreography, like, I don't think anybody realized that it was going to be as big as it was.

WILLIAMS: Yeah.

NE-YO: I don't think anybody saw that coming. Like, we're just - all right, cool, we're adding some - a little bit of the new to the old, all right. And then when it happened, it blew up like that. Literally everybody was like wow, really? OK, cool.

MARTIN: So what was the most fun thing for each of you?

WILLIAMS: I can't pick anything that was the most fun. This is all new to me, so it's like...

NE-YO: (Laughter).

WILLIAMS: I mean, you know, at the beginning, I was questioning, like, you know, am I - am I really the right Dorothy? Did they really make the right choice? But as we went along the journey, like Ne-Yo said, there is a reason for everything.

MARTIN: Ne-Yo, what was the most fun thing for you?

NE-YO: Well, aside from watching Shanice blossom, like, you know, from the first day of rehearsal to the day of the show, like, just - you could see the butterflies; you could see the nervousness a little bit. But then it was just refreshing to me to watch her get more and more sure of herself. You know, on top of us definitely getting the work done, like, there was no question we was getting the work done. Kenny jammed it in our head every other day - we are standing on very tall shoulders with this.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

NE-YO: And we have a responsibility to the legacy of what this is. Let's add a positive note to the legacy. We went for it. We gave it everything.

MARTIN: Shanice, before we let you go, what happened to Toto?

NE-YO: (Laughter).

WILLIAMS: That is so funny.

MARTIN: He disappeared for most of the show. What happened to Toto?

WILLIAMS: We were doing the Broadway version.

NE-YO: Yeah.

WILLIAMS: In the Broadway version, Toto comes at the beginning and the end.

NE-YO: Yeah, yeah.

WILLIAMS: So Toto is a star, and he was right where he needed to be.

NE-YO: That's what it was - next time, next time.

MARTIN: That was Shanice Williams and Ne-Yo's of NBC's "The Wiz Live!," which will rebroadcast on NBC tonight. Thank you both so much.

WILLIAMS: Thank you, guys.

NE-YO: Thank you so much, take care. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.