![]() When you have the talent that this production assembled, it seems a sin to do a half-baked version of the classic musical. ![]() Take the time, spend the money, and do it right. If you see it as that, you can allow the music to take you "over the rainbow" almost as well as the movie itself.įirst off, I am absolutely not a fan of "concert" versions of musicals. Now keep in mind, it is a concert, not a play or movie, so the performers aren't really acting so much as saying lines and using representative rather than literal costumes and sets to hold the songs together. I was especially glad that they put in the legendary "Jitterbug" song and sang the extra lyrics to the songs featured in the movie. Anyway, for many Oz-philes, this should prove to be an enjoyable experience, if you don't mind seeing bits and pieces removed or added and the songs done in different styles. My favorite was, of course, Nathan Lane as the Cowardly Lion ("If I were king of the forest/Not queen, not duke, not prince the Artist Formerly Known as Prince]"). I was absolutely mesmorized from the start, and I even kept the channel on during commercial breaks, which I don't usually do. I later found out about where the other performers were coming from (Roger Daltrey from the Who, Joel Grey from Broadway, etc.). I had only heard of Natalie Cole, Boys Choir of Harlem, and Nathan Lane (as the voice of Timon in "The Lion King"). I was kind of disappointed that there weren't any "big" stars there, though. ![]() I had just finished reading the book, and I had just seen the movie for about the millionth time. I was elated to see it because I absolutely loved everything Oz. I saw this special the first time it was broadcast on TNT on Thanksgiving weekend. The only thing that would top having this on tape and CD would be if they released it on DVD as well. I've owned a copy of this for several years now and watch it regularly. Darrell Larson did an extremely creditable job of direction on the entire production and is to be commended. Every performance was spot on - Joel Grey did the part of the Wizard proud Roger Daltrey gave the Tin Man a Who-like showing on "If I Only Had a Heart" Jewel's rendition of "The Jitterbug" was fantastic! Natalie Cole's Gospel-style singing of "You're Out of the Woods" shows off the pipes of this talented singer Nathan Lane's Cowardly Lion positively channeled Bert Lahr Debra Winger as the Wicked Witch was a hoot with her standard above-standard performance Jackson Browne's Scarecrow singing "If I Only Had a Brain" was marvelous The Harlem Boys Choir made a wonderful set of munchkins And the guest artists all made the concert a special event. I first saw this concert version of the Wizard of Oz when it first was airing and was positively thrilled.
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