Live theatre productions proving to be popular
Stars sound off on rise of live television productions
TORONTO First there was The Sound of Music Live! on NBC. Then came a flood of other live TV remakes of beloved stories, including The Wiz, Peter Pan, Grease and Hairspray. Now the trend is poised to continue, with upcoming live TV broadcasts of the stage shows A Christmas Story (Dec. 17), and Rent (Jan. 27) on Fox and City. Meanwhile, NBC plans to air live productions of A Few Good Men, Bye Bye Birdie and Jesus Christ Superstar. “There’s tons that I would want to do and I think it’s a great thing that’s happening now,” says Lea Michele of Glee fame, who stars on the new ABC/ CTV comedy series The Mayor. “That’s how it used to be on television all the time, if you think about all those old variety shows and musicals.” Such “appointment television” events help “break through the clutter” in an age of audience fragmentation, says Colette Watson, senior vice-president of TV and broadcast operations at Rogers, which owns City.
“You’ve got to try new things and I think this is what you’re seeing, is the industry trying new things,” says Watson.
Hayden Mindell, vice-president of television programming and content at Rogers, adds that audiences like the unpredictability of the live events.
“You never know how they’re going to turn out and I think that’s the appeal, that’s partly why people tune in,” Mindell says.
“I think people love the music, I think they make for an event on television . ... They’re hugely popular and it works nicely.”
NBC’s star-packed Hairspray Live! from last December, which recently won three Emmy Awards, was filmed on multiple sets and showed the cast members behind the scenes as they moved from location to location on golf carts.
“I thought in many, many ways it was great,” says Eric McCormack, star of Will & Grace, which shot episodes live when it first aired from 1998 to 2006.
“I’m not sure about the filming of the golf carts going from stage to stage. It felt a little Penn & Teller in terms of showing, ‘Here’s how we do the magic!’ That’s the part that I go, ‘I’d rather not know.’”
Joe Jonas, who was in the Grease Live! event that aired in January 2016, admits it “was a really stressful experience.”
“You rehearse, you rehearse, you rehearse — and then it’s live and millions of people are watching, so that’s a little scary,” says Jonas. “There’s no real, like, ‘Can we do that again?’”
Broadway veteran and Daytime Divas star Vanessa Williams says there is a drawback to presenting a stage musical live on TV.
“The sound, the feel, the tension, the atmosphere” of a theatrical audience is invaluable, says Williams, and “the audience informs what goes on onstage.
“That is such an important part of making theatre alive and it’s really hard to capture that on television, particularly because theatre is a head-to-toe scope,” says Williams.
“When the lens comes in for close-ups or whatever (on TV) ... the proportion is off. Even sound — the sound in a theatre surrounds you. The sound on a television, you’re working with a speaker . ... So it’s a really hard thing.”
Recreating the magic of the original can also be a challenge.
Last May’s Dirty Dancing remake on ABC — which wasn’t live but was dubbed “appointment television” nonetheless — was panned by critics and fans for failing to live up to the beloved 1987 film.
“I have a tendency to avoid remakes of anything when you’ve got something good at the top, because it almost never works,” says actress Kelly Bishop, who played the mom in the original Dirty Dancing film. She did not tune in to see the remake.
“There can be a part 2 that can work, but to try to remake, no, leave it alone. It was good.”
However, Kenny Ortega, who was the choreographer on the original Dirty Dancing, feels telecast remakes are worth mounting.
“People do become attached and that’s OK. Either turn it on or don’t turn it on, the choice is yours,” he says. “But I don’t think people should be prevented from exploring and trying things again and reinventing. I think it’s silly to take ownership and to feel that once something is done, it should never be done again.”
Live TV productions are also making theatre stories more accessible, notes The Mayor star Brandon Micheal Hall.
“There’s a generation of kids that probably have never seen or heard these stories,” says Hall.
“Some of my cousins and nieces and nephews had never heard of The Wiz. When they finally saw that live it was like, ‘Whoa, this is a good musical. I want to learn the soundtrack.’ There are also a lot of people who don’t or can’t afford to come to New York City and go to Broadway to see some of these shows.”