Mary J. Blige as Evillene the Wicked Witch in The Wiz Live! (2015)
- MaryJBligeFashionbook
- Jun 7, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: May 17
Evillene — Mary J. Blige as Evillene the Wicked Witch in The Wiz Live! (2015)
Show: The Wiz Live! | Network: NBC | Aired: December 3, 2015 | Live Broadcast
I need everyone who has not seen this performance to stop what they are doing right now and go to YouTube and search Mary J. Blige Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News. Go ahead. I will wait.
Done? Okay. NOW you understand why I had to write about this.
The Wiz Live!
The Wiz Live! was NBC's 2015 live musical broadcast and it was a moment for Black culture in American television. The Wiz is the legendary Black reimagining of The Wizard of Oz that debuted on Broadway in 1975 and became the beloved 1978 film with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. The 2015 live version starred Shanice Williams as Dorothy, Ne-Yo as the Tin Man, David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion, Elijah Kelley as the Scarecrow, Queen Latifah as the Wizard, and Mary J. Blige as Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West.
The Performance That Stopped the Show
Mary J. Blige performed Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News and it is not an exaggeration to say she stopped the entire broadcast in its tracks. The song requires massive vocal power, commanding theatrical presence, menace, dark comedy, and the kind of total commitment that makes an audience forget they are watching a performance and start believing they are watching something real.
She delivered all of it. The next day that performance was all anyone was talking about. Not just people who loved Mary already. Everyone. This was a cultural moment.
The Critic's Choice Nomination
The performance earned Mary a Critic's Choice Television Award nomination. For a live broadcast guest appearance that is extraordinary. It placed her performance alongside the most acclaimed dramatic and musical work on television that year. She deserved every bit of it.
The Wiz Live! is one of the defining moments of Mary's acting career and honestly one of the greatest television performances I have ever seen. Full stop.
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