RISE

much to the dismay of its heir apparent, Tracey Wolfe (Perez), and of Mazzuchelli’s wife, Gail (Marley Shelton).

His first move is to cancel the school’s plans for the umpteenth production of “Grease” in favor of the controversial “Spring Awakening,” alienating much of the blue-collar town.

He taps unlikely students for key parts, freaking out both those who win the roles and those who don’t.

Star quarterback Robbie (Damon J. Gillespie) is compelled by Mazzuchelli to join the show as its male lead, and Lilette (Auli’i Cravalho) is stunned to be given the female lead.

Lilette’s mother (Shirley Rumierk), a waitress, is having an affair with the married football coach (Joe Tippett). Gwen (Amy Forsyth), the coach’s daughter, usually stars in every show, and the religious family of Simon (Ted Sutherland) isn’t pleased about his casting as a gay teenager in “Spring Awakening.”

These and other characters intersect in class, onstage and around town — with the requisite clashes, friendships, romances and high notes, not to mention arguments.

In a production studio in Brooklyn, New York, Katims and several cast members recently discussed the project.

“In a weird way, I felt all the shows I’ve done before led to this,” Katims said. “When I heard about this story and started thinking about telling it, I immediately gravitated toward the idea of doing a show where, tonally, it felt like we were being dropped down into this town in Pennsylvania, which reminds me of ‘Friday Night Lights.’ It’s very different from ‘Friday Night Lights,’ but I really wanted that feeling.”

Katims said he wasn’t interested in producing a “tonally broad” highschool musical.

“I wanted us to get to know the characters, the families and their friendships and what

they’re dealing with, coping with,” he said.

Viewers will undoubtedly make comparisons — to “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood” as well as “Glee,” the film “Fame” (1980) and its TV iteration, the “High School Musical” franchise and even “Flashdance” (1983).

Yet Perez and Radnor both said they see fresh and unique elements in “Rise.”

“It’s unapologetic in regard to the drama that’s presented,” Perez said. “If you do something that is focused on theater, sometimes it’s a little cheesy and it’s not grounded. I think this stands alone — because it’s so grounded and not hokey.”

Radnor said “Rise” is “more new than familiar.” But if another show draws people to it, he said, he’s OK with that — because he thinks the series will change their minds.

“When they get there,” Radnor said, “I think they’ll discover something that feels like its own thing.”

Gillespie — who grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he both performed and played football in high school — said he was able to relate to Robbie.

“I was talking to my girlfriend, and she said that (the show) is so accurate — that people are so obsessed with football that it turns into something vicious.

“I realized that what Robbie is doing — though we may have heard this story before — it’s so authentic and so honest. The weight does fall on him. It’s like, ‘This all happened because homeboy couldn’t make up his mind.’”

That reality, Gillespie said, plays into what viewers see from Robbie in the first episode.

“No matter what happens, it can’t show. He has a reputation ... that he has to portray in everyday life. But, little by little, we’ll see that get chipped away.”