Pop Culture

King: Network attempts to bring musical theater to TV fall short

Fox just released the first round of castings for its upcoming live musical “Grease,” set to air Jan. 31, 2016. Singer, actress and two-time “Dancing with the Stars” champion Julianne Hough will play the role of Sandy. And Vanessa Hudgens will trade in her Troy Bolton jersey for a Pink Ladies’ jacket, as she takes on bad-girl Rizzo in the original high school musical.

This comes after NBC’s weak swings at “Sound of Music” in 2013 and “Peter Pan” last December. They both enjoyed stellar ratings, and now other networks are looking at their success and getting ideas. To the networks thinking of ripping another musical from the sweet comforts of community dinner theater and high school drama clubs: I implore you, please don’t.

“Sound of Music” had more than 18 million people — according to Nielsen — tune in to see country superstar Carrie Underwood less-than-seamlessly turn into an Austrian nun-turned-governess. Half as many people looked on as the beautiful and talented Allison Williams played the prettiest teenage boy in history. But overall, the live shows received harsh reviews. In fact, most people and news outlets took to social media and blogs to just make fun of the shows. Most of the headlines after “Peter Pan” focused on Christopher Walken’s pirate cleavage.

Networks are using appointment TV against us in their eternal struggle against streaming viewership. Especially with this generation, there is a strong sense of FOMO, or fear of missing out. Forbes’ Hugh McIntrye says the reason for the musicals’ success rests solely on the idea of sharing. “If you’re not watching something, but all of your friends on Facebook and Twitter are, you’ll see their reactions, proving you’re not included on what’s happening. Networks are trying to tap into this fear to convince people to tune in, padding their advertising rates.”

These companies aren’t turning these musicals into live broadcasts so that people can experience the magic of live theater; they’re doing it to trap people into watching when they dictate. Even if they were good, which, for the most part, they are not, it’s just another way legacy media screws with consumers. Viewers tune in, get a few laughs, and then tune out, leaving feeling inexplicably empty.



And it’s not for lack of talent. In each of these shows, there are real talents (maybe with the exception of Hudgens) like Christopher Walken, Audra McDonald, Laura Benanti. We’re seeing a wave of Broadway stars like Sutton Foster defecting for TV because it pays really well, and it puts their names on the map for people who aren’t familiar with theater. Who can blame them for that?

I think bringing theater to Americans who don’t have the opportunity to experience these shows in person is a noble cause. But they aren’t going about it in the right way. Remember when MTV broadcast that production of “Legally Blonde The Musical” in a real theater with a real audience? It was great. It was almost like being there. There were no ridiculous close-ups, no horrifically fake studio sets, and no pop star leading ladies.

When theater is produced in a studio, for the cameras, it loses its magic. And I’m hopelessly devoted to getting that magic back.

Eric King is a sophomore magazine journalism major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at edking@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @erickingdavid.





Top Stories