The Wiz Live!, a live remake of the Broadway version of The Wiz, aired on just hours ago on NBC, and EVERYONE is talking about it!

The cast was jam-packed with great talent including Elijah Kelley (Scarecrow), Ne-Yo (Tin Man), David Alan Grier (Cowardly Lion), Queen Latifah (The Wiz), Mary J. Blige (Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West), Uzo Aduba (Glinda, the Good Witch of the South), Amber Riley (Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North), Stephanie Mills (Aunt Em), Common (The Bouncer) and introducing Shanice Williams (Dorothy). Of course, we all know the story. It follows Dorothy who, after getting swept in a tornado, attempts to find the Wiz with new friends to make it back home. She, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion learn a lot about themselves during the journey. Of course, The Wiz has a lot more flavor than the original, and this live version stays true to that.

Of course, we know there were great expectations with this musical, seeing as The Wiz is considered a classic, especially in the black community. However, I watched it as if I was watching it for the very first time, because trying to compare would have sucked the fun out of it. With a star-studded cast, special effects, great choreography and music, vibrant costumes, and the fabulous Cirque du Soleil, The Wiz Live! truly shined. It was an incredible musical to watch at home, perfect for the family, and it left me so moved and inspired!

What I loved about this version of the musical is that it sticks to the original plot and feel of The Wiz, but still manages to include modern technology, slang, music, and even dances (I know y'all saw Ne-Yo with the Dab!). It was seamless combining the feel of both the original and new eras. The songs and choreography were awesome (shout out to choreographer Fatima Robinson). The sets and costumes were bright and beautiful, and the visual effects were great. And what can I say about the Cirque du Soleil performers and background singers?! They were such a great addition to this production.

The cast themselves had great chemistry!  Everyone shined in their moments on stage. Shanice, in her debut, held her own with these well-known talents, giving solid, clear vocals and showcasing her training in musical theater. I think she has a little bit more growing to do in the acting field, but she definitely made her mark tonight. Mary J. did pretty well, though, at times, I didn't believe her in her role as Evillene. It seemed a tad bit forced. Overall though, I enjoyed the cast

The music. I must talk about this music. Now, I've loved me some Amber since back when Glee first aired, and Elijah since his role as Seaweed in Hairspray, so I know their talent as singers.  Of course, Queen, Ne-Yo, and Mary can sing, and Stephanie Mills, who was Dorothy in the original play, is legend. They all did well. However, David's passion in his voice took me for a great surprise! He really stood out in this role, especially when he sang. But it was Uzo's version "Believe in Yourself, and Shanice's "Home," that BROUGHT DOWN THE HOUSE! I knew that Uzo was trained at Julliard and heard she could sing, but had just never heard her before. Her voice and appearance was stunning, and a complete 180 from her role as Crazy Eyes in Orange is the New Black. Shanice, as a newcomer, had something to prove, and she did so by closing the show with that classic song. Her vocals are pretty distinct, and, with her enunciation and tone, you can tell she was trained in the theater. She did a great job. Unfortunately, the soundtrack isn't available until December 11th (at least on iTunes), but you can preorder now. 

The Wiz Live! boosted my spirits and gave me inspiration and motivation. I know that's probably odd to say about a musical, but there were so many great words of wisdom in the script as well that stuck with me. Plus, as a black woman, to see this entire production of black people giving their all on a stage was so beautiful to me. It really was watching black excellence. I was really proud.

I read on the New York Times website, that this play is a test run for a Broadway revival! From what I've read on social media, people loved it, so we're able to go see it in New York! I would definitely make that trip.

RATING: ★★★★ ½ (Four and a half stars)

What did you think of The Wiz Live?

Images via NBC

8:49:00 PM

Steel Magnolias is a classic in the film industry! The 1989 original, starring acting veterans Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, and Julia Roberts, along with Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis, and Darryl Hannah. I'm not going to give a whole recap of the movie, but for those of you who have never seen the original or the remake, it's about six women who are all close friends who share in the ups and downs of each other's lives down in Louisiana. The film is filled with laughter and love, and well as tears and pain. With all of the great reviews about the film, t honestly only made sense that one day, someone would want to make a remake.

And here we are, 23 years later, with a remake from director Kenny Leon. When the news of the remake came out about a year ago, and I heard that it was with an all African-American cast (starring some of my favorite black actresses like Queen Latifah, Phylicia Rashad, and Alfre Woodard, along with Jill Scott, Adepero Oduye, and Phylicia's daughter, Condola Rashad), I was beyond excited!

Some spoilers may be ahead.





The reviews were mixed among the Twitterverse, with some saying it was terrible, others loving it, and many saying that it was just...ok. Though I (along with mostly everyone who's seen the first one) was bound to compare it to the original, I went in really excited about this remake! And I was determined not to let my intense love for the original get in the way of reviewing this. I knew that it wouldn't be like the original (remakes almost never top their predecessor), but I was disappointed. I thought it was ok, but it still fell short a lot of times.

Now, like I said before, this was a movie that I was excited about when I first heard about it. I knew that it would be modernized (this is 2012, so if anybody was expecting that old southern feel from the original, who were you really kidding?) I wasn't too shocked to hear the Wobble at Shelby's wedding reception, or hear the actors talk about Facebook or Beyoncé. Also not not shocked that the movie cut some of the scenes, putting lines into other parts of the movie. Lifetime movies don't typically go over two hours with commercials and the original is that length. Figured they would add in scenes too to add in a little more perspective from the characters (and they did that plenty!).

However, the scenes were just rushed, with a lot of the lines emotionlessly and quickly spit out like they were just going through a run through on set! As a result, jokes throughout the movie weren't as funny. It didn't feel like there were any real connection between the actors other than between Phylicia and Alfre as friends Clairee and Ouiser, but especially not between Queen Latifah and Condola (who played mother-daughter pair M'Lynn and Shelby). That was the most important relationship! Though Condola's performance was actually very natural and great to me, Queen Latifah seemed distant when it came to her, which was important since M'Lynn and Shelby were so close! I can only truly praise half of the main cast--Condola, Phylicia and Alfre (who was the most comedic part of the whole movie).

Though I was sitting down and watching closely, I honestly wasn't that connected as the movie went on until towards the end when Queen Latifah acted out Sally Field's famous breakdown (though still a little forced and ) after Shelby passed, and Clairee offered up Ouiser for M'Lynn to hit! That scene always gets me emotional, but still laughing and happy at the end as the ladies celebrate Shelby's life, and stand strong for each other. But in fact, the whole of the original had me dying laughing, because it was so natural and the chemistry was so great, and this one wasn't. Overall, it was just...a movie. Just a story that I didn't connect to until the part where you couldn't help but be emotional because a main character had just died. I did love how the movie ended with a short monologue from Shelby, ending with her famous line of "I would rather have 30 minutes of something wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special," showing that Shelby had no regrets about dying because she gave birth to a beautiful son, and her legacy lives on.

Now, let me say this too. Many were saying online that African Americans ought to support and not bash the film because we as a culture don't have many opportunities like this in the entertainment industry, which is true. And I do try to support the opportunities we do have, especially as leads on movies and tv series. HOWEVER, I'm not going to just say that a movie is great simply because it has a film full of people who look like me. I judge a film based on the emotions conveyed, if the story really shines onscreen, especially when it's a remake of a movie that I love to death! Even with Lifetime movies, there are some where my eyes are GLUED to the TV because they're so good. I got bored with this one, which hurts to say, because I was so excited for this. I have to be honest and give an average grade with a B-/C+. I commend the director and the cast for the effort, and for making it their own, but it just didn't stand out to me.

How did you feel about the remake? Sound off below!

Image via USA Today

6:00:00 AM

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!

I had to do it. I had to write a review for the BET Awards 2010 for a number of reasons. One, it was the 10th year anniversary of the show. Two, the show was so much of a mess last year, I had give my opinion on whether this year's was better or not (cuz there's always the chance of it getting worse, sad to say). Three, the show had some great (and somewhat iffy) nominations that I had to give my two cents on. So this post goes into detail about performances, awards won, outfits, and everything. I literally had my laptop open the whole time typing on all of this (and tweeting lol Twitter was crazy last night yall). It's a real long post, but worth the read...



The BET Awards pre-show started off the night (or the afternoon over in LA). It was....ok. Of course, Terrence J and Rocsi hosted. Yeah. Point blank period, I miss AJ and Free. (Was I the only one excited to see a glimpse of Free only to be completely disappointed? Only heard her voice). Nick Cannon was wack with his interviews, too. Personally, I think everybody was done with him after Wild'N Out. Now he's known to the world as Mariah's husband.

The performances were cool, but it didn't excite me much. It never really does. One of the performances that I was kind of disappointed with was Miss Dondria's. Now, I love this girl. My co-worker had me watching some of her videos on YouTube that got her discovered, and I think that she has real talent. However, I didn't like that she did her, I guess, "You're The One" remix? with Jermaine Dupri. I like the original version, and that's the version playing on the radio, so she ought to have performed that one. I still love her though. And Soulja Boy performed. TWICE. I don't like either song that he was on ("All The Way Turnt Up"/"Pretty Boy Swag"), so I changed my channel to Bridezillas for a second.


And outfits? What the hell was Rocsi wearing?! Matter of fact, I didn't understand what was going on through several people's minds when they were dressing for the Red Carpet. Gucci Mane wearing all black, Debra Lee (president and CEO of BET Holdings, Inc) wearing that disastrous pink getup, and Rocsi with that ugly denim mess that didn't even flow. And Nicki Minaj, I understood the symbolism with her outfit (the Wilma Flintstone look) A friend explained on Twitter that it symbolized Bedrock going platinum. Nicki, I'm happy for you and Young Money, BUT STILL!!!!!! I appreciate Nicki's style because it's unique, and a lot of times, it looks good. Better than it would be if other people tried it. But no. That was just too much. Too too much. But it's Nicki, so I figured there would be some crazy looking wig. I liked the dress though. Now some people rocked it. Taraji. MY GIRL! Loved her outfit. It was classy. T.I. looked sharp in his little suit too. But overall, people either did too much with their outfits all together, or weren't dressed for the weather. Yall know it's hot in Cali!

The pre-show did have its good moments though. Favorite moment was Monica's win for the Centric Award, even though she should have been nominated for Best Female R&B Artist, but I guess Still Standing came out too late. Next Year!!!! (*fingers crossed*) It was good to see the cast of The Game too!!! They made their presence known, and announced that new episodes of the game were coming in January!!!! THANK GOD UP ABOVE!!! But ummm...was I the only one who noticed Brittany's outfit was cut up a little too much and a little too low on the hips cuz you could see....the outfit was heading down...ok. Moving right along.

Now to the main event. Kanye West opened the show with "Power," performing on top of a volcano with weather changes going on in the background. I like the song, and it was real good to see Kanye back. And opening too? Good move BET. Then Miss Queen Latifah took the stage and went on people in song lol (yall hear her go on Wayne and Drake? All in fun lol). Then she took it back to her hip hop roots and did a little verse on Drake's "Over." It was a hot opening to me, and I loved her as hostess.

Something different that BET did that I really liked were the kid pics of all of the nominees. Saw Miss Beyoncé as a little baby awww, and Drake with his jacked up fro, but he was still cute. The first award of the evening, the Best Female R&B Artist award, went to Miss Alicia Keys (who looked good with her baby bump btw). I thought that Beyoncé would take it, but as long as one of them won, I was good. Did yall see how Swizzy brought his son, too? And how the boy had said on the red carpet that one of the performers he was looking forward to the most was Alicia. Awww moment LOL bet Mashonda was mad. Ehhh...this whole Alicia/Mashonda/Swizzy drama. People calling Miss Keys a homewrecker and all that. Bah. If the home was all that together in the first place, Alicia wouldn't have got him HELLO! But I digress....

Am I the only one noticed that the BET AWARDS show did very little handing out of actual awards? I was looking forward to Best Actress, Best New Artist, and a few others, only to have to look up some of them on Wikipedia smh Full list of winners in the post below this one. Had to put them in a different post. This one is long enough.

Young Money was in the building last night. Drake took home Best Male Hip Hop Artist which I was happy with. Honestly, that man's lyrics really move me. He speaks on everything from success to love to family. I love him. Young Money took home the award for Best Group, which no one saw, but it did happen. Congrats to them. Now...here's my issue. Nicki Minaj took home the Best New Artist Award AND the Best Female Hip Hop Artist Award. I take issue. I knew it was going to happen because of her popularity and style. I have to admit, I'm slow to hop on her train, but I made it. However, I feel that with these awards, she should've won one or the other but not both. Best Female Hip Hop Artist in my sight was a fluke anyways. For one, with the nominees, we ain't seen Missy and Kim come out with anything new for quite some time, and I don't know who this Rasheeda chick is, sorry. Apparently, she's done quite a few records, but if no one knows you then why are you in this category? So of course, Nicki was going to win. But if the nominees hadn't really done much this year, why have the award in the first place? Upping the drama between Kim and Nicki I guess. What Nicki did deserve to win, which I had to force myself to admit because of of my love for Wale, was Best New Artist. Nicki has made a name for herself this year. No one can deny that. And I'm a little excited for her album.

Side note cuz I had to throw it in here somewhere...did yall see Nia Long and Larenz Tate...LOVE JONES!!!! Larenz is sooo sexy. Ok. I'm done.

Performances, for the most part, were hot. T.I. tore up the stage with "Yeah You Know" from Takers, showing everybody that the King is back!!! Alicia Keys performed a medley of songs. "No One", "Sleeping With A Broken Heart", among others. Wish she wouldn't have been moving like that with that baby inside her though. Eminem's performance KILLED!!!!!!! Diddy's was dead. Too much fog and mike issues. T.I. killed his verse, but you couldn't hear Nicki (at all that night, no matter what mike she used)


Hands down, my favorite performance was Chris Brown's tribute to Michael Jackson. Jermaine Jackson introduced the performance by saying that there was one tribute that we have yet to see. Dag on right!!!! CB should've performed last year. PERIOD. I don't care about this mess with Rihanna. He did it. He apologized. He's dealing with the consequences he was dealt. LET IT GO. Rihanna's moved on. Why can't we do the same? He ain't hit yall. TEAM BREEZY!!!!!! lol ok I'm back. Chris just straight killed it! From beginning to end. From "The Way You Make Me Feel" to "Smooth Criminal" From his walk on the stage to his moonwalk (Take notes, Mr. Jamie Foxx). And the most touching part was his break down in the middle of singing "Man In The Mirror." People can say that it was a publicity stunt and all that, but it's obvious how much MJ had an impact on Chris. You can see it in every single one of his performances. Can't nobody tell me that that was a show. I also think that part of the breakdown may have come from him being happy to be back on stage after a trying year, and realizing that his mistake cost him. BUT I'M HAPPY HE GOT TO PERFORM!!!!!

Drake performed as well, and yall know I love him. People got on his actual performance, and get on his performing skills overall, but lyrics are all I need to be impressed. And Drake impresses me. I could go on that whole performing vs. lyrics thing, but this post is long enough. Time to wrap up. There were also performances from El Debarge, Tyrese, Kirk Franklin and company (dedicate to Haiti), which were nice. Tyrese took me there too yall. Not gonna fake. MMMMM....



The night wrapped up with John Legend winning the Humanitarian Award and Prince, the Lifetime Achievement Award. I never really knew about all of the ways that John has served, but it's amazing for him to have done all of this. People can let the fortune and fame get to their head, and don't even think about giving back. Prince sat back on his tribute. I don't think he was into them until Alicia and Patti took the stage and killed! Lol I love Patti! Yall see her kick off them shoes doing "Purple Rain?!" As only Patti could do lol.

And then the performance with DJ Khaled and all them...yadda yadda. "All I do is win win win...Everybody hands go up!" Ok we got you. And the night was over. And I must say that I quite enjoyed myself. It was 50 million times better than last year's, and it was the best one that I have seen in quite some time. So congratulations BET for getting your act together and doing better. I look forward to the day when I go for myself, cuz uh I'm going yall! Gonna interview people for a magazine, I SPEAK IT NOW!!!! lol hope yall enjoyed my review. Sorry for the length. It's the writer in me.

PEACE.

6:28:00 AM