Drama school
Life gets messy for theater program in NBC’s ‘Rise’
Imagine if “Glee” and “Friday Night Lights” had a baby and that child overdosed on Lifetime movies. Welcome to NBC’s new drama “Rise,” about a troubled high school theater program in a troubled Pennsylvania town filled with teens and adults who are ... wait for it ... troubled.
The series from executive producer Jason Katims (“Friday Night Lights,” “Parenthood”) is inspired by the 2014 nonfiction bestseller “Drama High: The Incredible True Story of a Brilliant Teacher, a Struggling Town, and the Magic of Theater,” by Michael Sokolove.
That book tells the story of drama teacher Lou Volpe, who taught in a blue-collar Pennsylvania town and whose productions changed the lives of his students and won regular attention from Broadway producers.
To honor Volpe, “Rise’s” lead character, Lou Mazzuchelli (played by “How I Met Your Mother’s” Josh Radnor), is based on him and shares the same first name.
In bringing the character to life, Katims and NBC made one itsy-bitsy change. They turned him straight. Because absolutely no one in America has ever had a gay teacher, certainly not one capable of inspiring students.
Katims and NBC have pretty much responded to claims of “straight-washing” their lead by pointing out that further down in the ensemble you can find representations of the LGBTQ community.
There is Simon (Ted Sutherland), the devoutly religious student who objects to being cast as a gay teen in the production of “Spring Awakening” because he is so not gay. He couldn’t be less convincing if he were wearing a RuPaul wig. Then there’s the student who is transitioning from female to male.
Faces in the crowd.
Lou, here, is a bored English teacher, and from the premiere, he and his wife, Gail (Marley Shelton), seem to have two children, but another young’un pops up next week, as they are wont to do in robustly heterosexual families.
Lou wants a challenge, so he asks for and receives the drama program. Too bad for Tracey Wolfe (Rosie Perez), who has been running it for years and is pushed out of the job because she’s a mouthy woman who costs more to the school. She agrees to stay on to assist Lou, but his mansplaining causes constant tension.
Lou wants more kids in his program, so in a move right out of “Glee,” he blackmails the star quarterback, Robbie (Damon J. Gillespie), into auditioning.
Lilette (Auli’i Cravalho, “Moana”) is looking for stardom, but mostly a bus ticket out of town. Her mother’s tacky affair with the football coach has given her an enemy and stage rival in the coach’s daughter, Gwen (“The Path’s” Amy Forsyth, who does a superb job giving heart to her Mean Girl role).
Those with keen eyes will spot “Stranger Thing’s” Barb — that is, actress Shannon Purser, in the background. (She also plays Ethel on CW’s “Riverdale.”) What does this actress have to do to get cast as more than supporting scenery?
“Rise” follows the season finale of “This is Us” and will take over that tearjerker’s time slot next week. NBC is hoping to capture the same sort of audience moved by bathos and treacle. This show has its moments.
Everyone, give a slow clap to “Rise.”