A Short History of Live US and UK TV Musicals

Every weekend, The Shows Must Go On! YouTube channel is livestreaming a live TV musical. These TV events have become popular in America over the last few years since being revived in 2013 with The Sound of Music Live! Let’s take a quick look into the history of TV musicals in the US and the UK.

Peter Pan (1955, 1956 and 1960) was adapted from the 1954 stage musical written by Moose Charlap and Carolyn Leigh, with additional music by Jule Styne and additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. This was the first musical adapted for TV in America, which ‘was shown live on television twice, in 1955 and 1956…[a] taped version was made in color in a Brooklyn studio…and was broadcast by NBC in 1960.’[1] It was highly acclaimed and ‘The historic live [1955] telecast of Mary Martin as PETER PAN, [is] generally considered the definitive performance of this beloved musical.’[2] The 1955 and 1956, the broadcasts featured Mary Martin as Peter Pan and Cyril Ritchard in the dual roles of Captain Hook and Mr. Darling.

Source: IMDb

Cinderella (1957) was the first live TV musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and ‘captivated more than 100 million viewers’[3] in 1957. This musical version of Cinderella has been adapted various times, including for the 1965 and 1997 TV films and the 2013 Broadway production, which had an updated book by Douglas Carter Beane. As such, this Rodgers and Hammerstein’s work remains an important part of the legacy of adaptations of Cinderella. The 1957 version featured Julie Andrews in this star vehicle as Cinderella and Jon Cypher as Prince Christopher.

Source: IMDb

The Sound of Music Live! (2013) was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1959 stage musical and included two songs which were cut from the film. ‘How Can Love Survive?’ and ‘No Way to Stop It’ are both performed by Laura Benanti as Elsa and Christian Borle as Max. The broadcast received a large viewership and ‘topped all other telecasts for the week of Dec. 2-8 -- one of several reasons why NBC is already prepping a follow-up.’[5] The production featured Carrie Underwood as Maria and various Broadway actors, including Audra McDonald as the Mother Abbess. This production began the new string of live TV musicals which continue to be produced every year.

Source: IMDb

Peter Pan Live! (2014) was the second consecutive TV musical after The Sound of Music and, like the 1950s and 1960 broadcasts, was based off of the 1954 musical. In a change from these versions, the dual role of Captain Hook and Mr. Darling was altered. Captain Hook was swapped for Smee, who was portrayed by Christian Borle, whilst Christopher Walken took on Hook. Broadway actors were utilised throughout the cast including Kelli O’Hara as Mrs. Darling and Taylor Louderman as Wendy. This live production included additional songs adapted from other works and new lyrics written by Amanda Green. Producer Neil Meron stated that, ‘“Amanda has consulted with our Native American consultant [Jerod Tate], just in terms of replacing ‘Ugg-a-Wugg’ with something more traditionally Native American…Now and forever, this will hopefully be the version [in the show]’[6]. This new song was 'True Blood Brothers'.

Source: IMDb

The Wiz Live! (2015) was an adaptation of the musical which opened on Broadway in 1975 with music by Charlie Smalls, Timothy Graphenreed, Harold Wheeler, George Faison and Luther Vandross and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, Zachary Walzer and Luther Vandross. This live TV musical differed from its NBC predecessors in that instead of a sound stage, The Wiz Live! was filmed on a theatre stage. Unlike the star leads of Carrie Underwood in The Sound of Music! and Allison Williams as Peter Pan, NBC cast Shanice Williams after, ‘a nationwide, open casting call for the part’[7]. The song ‘We Got It’ was also new to the production and was written by stars Ne-Yo and Elijah Kelley. The cast also included Amber Riley as Addaperle, Queen Latifah as the Wiz and the original Broadway Dorothy Stephanie Mills as Auntie Em.

Source: TV Guide

The Sound of Music Live (2015) was broadcast on ITV, making history as ‘the first time a musical has been broadcast live on national television in the UK.’[8] Like the American live TV production, ITV’s offering included the songs ‘How Can Love Survive?’ and ‘No Way to Stop It’. Unfortunately, this production did not kick start the same traditional of live TV musicals for Britain, despite being an entertaining production with an impressive cast. Alongside Kara Tointon as Maria, Julian Ovenden as Captain von Trapp and Maria Friedman as the Mother Abbess, the cast included Evelyn Hoskins as Liesl and Mel Giedroyc as Frau Schmidt, all of whom had had careers on stage.

Source: The Stage

Grease: Live (2016) was broadcast on Fox and was adapted from both the 1971 stage musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and the 1978 film. Director Thomas Kail stated of the new writers Robert Cary and Jonathan Tolins’ changes that, ‘What we're doing here is taking the spine of the film and then also having access to parts of the stage play.’[9] As such, songs from the stage musical such as ‘These Magic Changes’ and ‘Freddy My Love’ were included and some explicitly sexual lyrics were removed. Sandy’s surname was also changed to ‘Young’ from ‘Dumbrowski’ in the original musical and ‘Olsson’ in the film. A new song ‘All I Need is an Angel’ was also written by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey for Frenchy, played by Carly Rae Jepsen. Unlike previous NBC live musicals, Grease: Live was performed in front of a live audience, who were included in scenes such as Sandy’s audition to be a cheerleader. The cast included Julianne Hough as Sandy, Aaron Tveit as Danny and Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo. Furthermore, there were cameos by Didi Conn and Barry Pearl; the 1978 film’s Frenchy and Doody, respectively.

Source: IMDb

The Passion: New Orleans (2016) was the second Fox live TV musical. It ‘tells the story of Jesus Christ’s days before the crucifixion — except, with a twist, it was set in modern-day New Orleans…and…featured pop culture covers.’[10] This jukebox musical featured the songs, ‘When Love Takes Over’, ‘You'll Never Walk Alone’ and ‘Mad World’. The cast included Jencarlos Canela as Jesus Christ, Chris Daughtry as Judas and Seal as Pontius Pilate.

Source: Billboard

Hairspray Live! (2016) was an adaption of the musical which opened on Broadway in 2002 by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Harvey Fierstein, who played Edna Turnblad in both the original Broadway production and Hairspray Live, adapted the musical’s book. The broadcast included a live studio audiences and elements of the film musical were incorporated. ‘Ladies’ Choice’ was included, although sung by Corny Collins as opposed to Link as was the case in the 2007 film. There was also an encore performance of ‘Come so Far (Got so Far to Go)’, which appeared in the 2007 film’s credits and was performed here with Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson as soloists. Like Shanice Williams’ casting for The Wiz: Live!, Maddie Baillio was cast as Tracy Turnblad after an open call[11]. The production featured cameos by previous Tracys Ricki Lake and Marissa Jaret Winokur alongside Kristin Chenoweth as Velma von Tussle and Jennifer Hudson as Motormouth Maybelle.

Source: EW.com

A Christmas Story Live! (2017) was an adaptation of the stage musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Joseph Robinette which had a run on Broadway in 2012. It was broadcast on Fox without a live audience and included ‘three additional tunes for the TV adaptation, including a new song, “Count on Christmas,” to open the event and a Hanukkah song, “In the Market for a Miracle”’[12]. The cast included Maya Rudolph as Mother Parker, Jane Krakowski as Miss Shields and The Wiz Live!‘s David Alan Grier as Santa Claus.

Source: IMDb

Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018) was broadcast on NBC. It differed from previous live musicals as it was a concert performance as opposed to a staged musical production. This production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical, which was originally released as a concept album in 1970, was performed in front of a live audience like its predecessors such as Hairspray Live! As such, one set was utilised and actors addressed the audience at various points. The cast included John Legend as Jesus, Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas and Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene.

Source: IMDb

Rent: Live (2019) again utilised the single set approach in this adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s musical, which opened on Broadway in 1996. It was broadcast on Fox. In a first for live TV musicals, Rent: Live was not entirely live. This was due to the fact that Brennin Hunt, who played Roger, was injured and there were no understudies cast. Hunt suffered ‘a broken right foot near the end of the three-hour dress rehearsal’[13]. The final act was reworked and broadcast live and the rest of the broadcast was the pre-recorded dress rehearsal. The cast continued to perform the show for the live studio audience, with Hunt performing in a wheel chair. Jonathan Larson’s script was edited by Kristoffer Diaz to remove explicit language and make alterations to the traditionally untouched libretto. For instance, Angel was suggested to be non-binary, as evidenced by Mark’s line about the group of tourists who ‘had probably never spoken to a person like her before’ as opposed to describing her as a drag queen. The cast included Jordan Fisher as Mark, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert‘s Brandon Victor Dixon as Collins and Grease: Live‘s Vanessa Hudgens as Maureen.

Source: IMDb

The Little Mermaid Live! (2019) was unlike all previous live TV musical events as ABC broadcast the animated film and inter-cut it with live performances of the songs. The production featured songs written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman for the film and numbers from the stage musical, which had lyrics by Glenn Slater. For instance, Prince Eric’s solo ‘Her Voice’ was featured, which is performed after he meets Ariel. The cast included Auliʻi Cravalho as Ariel, Graham Phillips as Prince Eric and The Wiz Live!‘s Queen Latifah as Ursula.

Source: IMDb

Have you seen all of these live TV musicals? Which is your favourite?

Sources

[1] John J. O'Connor, ‘TV Weekend; Mary Martin Flies Again, in 'Peter Pan'’, The New York Times (1989) <https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/24/arts/tv-weekend-mary-martin-flies-again-in-peter-pan.html> [2] Pat Cerasaro, ‘Original 1955 & 1956 PETER PAN Starring Mary Martin Makes Blu-Ray Debut, 8/25’, Broadway World (2015) <https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Original-1955-1956-PETER-PAN-Starring-Mary-Martin-Makes-Blu-Ray-Debut-825-20150731> [3] Judith S. Gillies, ‘Cinderella’, The Washington Post (2004) <https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2004/12/12/cinderella/b0980dff-6c9d-4289-8ba9-8aa2814a21c7/> [4] Kirstie Renae, ‘How 'Cinderella' has changed over time, from animated classics to live-action remakes’, Insider (2019) <https://www.insider.com/how-cinderella-is-different-in-every-movie> [5] Michael O'Connell, ‘TV Ratings: NBC's 'Sound of Music Live' Nears 22 Million Viewers With DVR’, The Hollywood Reporter (2013) <https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-nbcs-sound-music-667543> [6] Esther Zuckerman, ‘'Peter Pan Live!' team previews the production's new songs’, Entertainment Weekly (2014) <https://ew.com/article/2014/11/18/peter-pan-live-new-songs/> [7] Hilary Lewis, ‘NBC's 'The Wiz' Finds Its Dorothy’, The Hollywood Reporter (2015) <https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/shanice-williams-cast-wiz-as-813256> [8] Jane Martinson, ‘As ITV prepares for The Sound of Music Live, are we watching TV's future?’, The Guardian (2015) <https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/dec/15/as-itv-prepares-for-the-sound-of-music-live-are-we-watching-tvs-future> [9] David Rooney, ‘'Hamilton's' Thomas Kail Makes the Leap to TV for "Bold" Take on 'Grease: Live'’, The Hollywood Reporter (2016) <https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/thomas-kail-jumps-hamilton-grease-857961> [10] Diana Pearl, ‘From Dirty Dancing to Jesus Christ Superstar: Ranking How the Internet Felt About All the TV Musical Adaptations’, People (2018) <https://people.com/tv/tv-musical-remakes-ranked/> [11] Today, Watch ‘Hairspray’ Live! Star Find Out She Got The Role Of Tracy Turnblad | TODAY, online video recording, YouTube, 7 June 2016 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgVcSaoJCCg> [12] Yvonne Villarreal, ‘The leg lamp! The frozen pole! Fox prepares to bring a holiday classic to life with ‘A Christmas Story Live!’’, Los Angeles Times (2017) <https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-christmas-story-live-20171216-story.html> [13] Lesley Goldberg, ‘How 'Rent' Handled Its Star's Broken Foot’, The Hollywood Reporter (2019) <https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/how-rent-is-handling-stars-broken-foot-1179847>