'The Wiz's' Costume Designer Paul Tazewell Brought Life to Production, Earns Critical Acclaim

Costumes and sets are important elements in any live performance, and NBC's The Wiz Live! is no exception. The network seemed to get it all right, regardless of the endless commercials. The show earned recognition with "critical acclaim," according to the The Hollywood Reporter. Designer Paul Tazewell is the man of the hour; the Broadway costumer designer put together a dazzling emsemble that brought life to the production.

19-year-old actress, Shanice Williams, who played Dorothy has been hailed as a "star" by the media.

USA Today reported, "Pulsing with life and fun, sparked by energetic dances and colorful costumes, and driven by Charles Smalls's still sturdy score, NBC's The Wiz Live! Thursday night (*** 1/2 stars out of four) was charmed from start to finish. And were that not enough, viewers got to witness the launch of a scintillating new performer in Shanice Williams, the young college student who may just have sung her way to stardom as Dorothy."

Williams captured the essence of Dorothy as a young teen in a red, white and black plaid skirt with a black bodice and red jacket with black accents. Besides her voice hitting all of the notes for songs like "Home," the actress shined in simple attire including the new brand, Nude Barre, stockings that has an array of nude colors for women of color, which went perfect with the sparkly stilettos that make magic happen.

Orange Is The New Black star Uzo Aduba, who played Glinda the Good Witch, looked exceptional in the gold and sequined dress and platinum blonde wing. Belting out "Believe in Yourself," who knew Crazy Eyes could sing?! Tin-Man Ne-yo, Elijah Kelley as Scarecrow and David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion- they all did an outstanding job and their costumes were spot-on. Nothing seemed off-course about their acting, singing nor their costumes.

If there were a best-costume award for the show, it could have gone to Queen Latifah for her attire in role, The Wizard. Her emerald green gown, with the gloves balance the striped green mohawk wig. And yes, Mary J. Blige as Eveline looked approriate in the black gown with a hint of deep lavender.

In short, the make-up artistry was superb!

Emmy award winning makeup artist, Matiki Anoff selected a team of professional makeup artists to work with the cast. MStars News learned exclusively that Anoff designed the "whimsical makeup looks and the colors were chosen by herself." Makeup artist Tamara Delbridge, who was one of the few chosen makeup artists and worked with Kacie Noel Garland, Poppy, Winkle and an Emerald City citizen, says about Anoff, "She is a rue visionary. We used vibrant pinks, oranges for the munchkins. All of the colors that were chosen, corresponded with the stunning costumes. We were given instruction to reproduce the designed looks while incorporating our own artistic flair to the look."

It didn't matter if the castmates were background dancers, singers or played lead roles, the fashion, the set and the acting were all colorful and like Blige sang, there was "No Bad News" about the live show!