NBC's The Wiz Live! is giving us a truly colorful and fantastical Oz on Thursday night, filled with amazing costumes and a bumping Emerald City I wouldn't mind visiting. Oz is also populated with acrobats from Cirque du Soliel to truly take the live production to a whole other level. So, who are the Poppies on The Wiz Live! ? When Dorothy (the magical newcomer Shanice Williams) first ends up in Oz, she's warned about the dangerous Poppies by the Munchkins. She finally encounters them as she eases down the yellow brick road with the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow.
The Poppies were just as threatening as they were described, but also enchanting and mesmerizing with a sexy music beat to match. Actress Asmeret Ghebremichael, part of Thursday's ensemble, was spotted by singer Ingrid Michaelson as one of the alluring Poppies and posted about it on Twitter (which Ghebremichael retweeted). "The Munchkins said that once they get a hold of you, they never let you go," Dorothy tells her companions. The Poppies are dancers dressed in pretty amazing floral-esque costumes. The Lion even gets drawn to dance with them. After s sequence of dance-flirting, the Lion soon starts mimicking their moves, which worries Dorothy. The Poppies are also part of the original 1975 Broadway production of The Wiz, upon which The Wiz Live! is based.
This year's live NBC musical production features the moves and dancers of Cirque du Soliel, which is co-producing The Wiz Live! Pretty cool, eh? The choreography is by Fatima Robinson, a film and music-video veteran who notably choreographed Dreamgirls. Here, the Poppies move as though they are a sexy distraction for the foursome easing down the yellow brick road. Perhaps it's a metaphor for vices, like sex, drugs or rock 'n' roll. After all, the yellow brick road in Oz never was quite smooth, even in The Wizard of Oz, on which The Wiz is based.
But The Wiz Live! is moving smoothly and impressing along the way, making for some truly entertaining television. I mean, have you ever seen a tornado of performers look so cool?
Images: Virginia Sherwood/NBC; Giphy
