"The Wiz Live!" finally graced our screens on Thursday night in a three-hour event filled with music, dancing and an all-star cast. The special comes 40 years after the original musical hit Broadway in 1975 and won seven Tony Awards.
This highly anticipated TV event won our hearts!
Here are five must-see moments from the episode:
1. The storm that started it all
Shanice Williams made her television debut in a big way with some crazy aerial acrobatics to simulate the tornado that brought her to Oz. With the help of the Cirque du Soleil team, an element of fantastical circus-y flair was brought to life. Williams followed up her cinematic entrance by showing off her vocal chops in a series of ensemble songs and solos.
2. Ne-Yo's Tin Man moves
While there's an ongoing social media debate as to who had the better moves, the Scarecrow or Tin Man, Ne-Yo certainly rocked the classic robot dance that surely had audiences cheering from their living rooms.
3. The top musical moment
Many songs from the night's performance might get stuck in your head, but one topped them all. The catchy lyrics and tune of "Ease on Down the Road" quickly turned this 70's redo into an instant classic sing-along.
4. Mary J. Blige brings Mary J. Blige
This R&B legend proved she has theatrical chops as well when she put on a show-stopping performance of the song "Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News." “I’m going to keep it classic and keep it close to what it is, but I’m going to definitely bring some ‘Mary J. Blige’ to the song — and some ‘Mary J. Blige’ attitude to Evillene,” she told Playbill in November. “I love the song, so I’ll be able to really turn it into something that’s me, but I don’t want to take it so far away from what I love so much about the song, because I think so many people love the same things that I love.”
She kept that promise.
5. Uzo Aduba can sing!
We all know Uzo Aduba as inmate Crazy Eyes from "Orange Is the New Black," but many people don't know that she's actually a classically trained singer and has performed opera. Well, she certainly proved she's not just a talented actress, but a stellar vocalist as well when she helped to close out "The Wiz Live!" with a solo performance as Glinda.
"The Wiz Live!" follow's last year's NBC production of "Peter Pan," featuring Allison Williams, and two years after viewers tuned in to see Carrie Underwood in "The Sound of Music.".