Seven Musicals Coming to Television for the 2017-2018 Season

Over the last few days, television networks have started announcing their plans for the 2017-2018 television season. Reports on which shows are being renewed and which are being cancelled are starting to come out, as are new shows and specials being added to their line-ups. This includes announcements for live musical events scheduled to happen this season.

A big draw for broadcast television over the last four years has come from their attempts at bringing live theater to the small screen. Starting with NBC’s ‘The Sound of Music’ in 2013 and Fox’s ‘Grease: Live’ in 2016, both networks have both been adding one night, “must-see TV” specials to their line-ups around the holidays to boost viewership. Now other stations are looking to cash in, revealing their plans for their own musical events.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, loves a good live musical. That is why we’ve gathered seven of the newly announced (and not-so newly announced) one-night musical events happening during the 2017-2018 season.

1.       ‘Dirty Dancing’ (ABC): Announced way back in 2015, ABC will be airing their first musical, ‘Dirty Dancing,’ tonight. A pre-taped film, a la Fox’s ‘Rocky Horror,’ the new ‘Dirty Dancing’ will star Abigail Breslin in the role of Baby (originally played by Jennifer Grey) and newcomer Colt Prattes as Johnny (originally played by Patrick Swayze).

2.        ‘Rent’ (Fox): The production team behind Fox’s last live event, ‘Grease: Live,’ has announced that they will be taking on rock musical ‘Rent’ this year. While I have my reservations about such a right-leaning station taking on a very left-leaning play, the fact that the estate of late ‘Rent’ writer/composer Jonathan Larson is on board and executive producing alleviates some of that. The news of this production is still brand new, so there are no actors attached to it or an air-date yet.

3.       ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ (NBC): NBC has announced that they will once again create a live event for Easter. This time around, the network will be taking on the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’ Webber is set to executive produce the event, along with NBC live programming stalwarts Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and Marc Platt, who is also working on the above-mentioned ‘Rent.’ NBC previously produced a live event of ‘The Passion’ for Easter 2015. Again, this is an early announcement, so there are no actors attached to it yet.

4.       ‘A Christmas Story’ (Fox): From next Easter to this Christmas, Fox has announced that they will be producing a live television event of the cult classic ‘A Christmas Story.’ The production will be in partnership with Warner Horizon and will, once again, be produced by Marc Platt (he’s apparently everywhere). Special for this event, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who scored the original Broadway production and have now signed on to score Fox’s, will be writing a number of new songs for the occasion. No actors are associated with this production yet.

5.       ‘The Little Mermaid’ (ABC): ABC will be bringing back the ‘Wonderful World of Disney’ moniker for their first live musical event (‘Dirty Dancing’ will not be live), ‘The Little Mermaid.’ Yes, the beloved tale of a mermaid longing to be human and falling in love will be making its way back to television screens for one night only on October 3. But this isn’t going to be like the live events that Fox and NBC have been producing, as it will not be live action. Instead, ABC will be airing the animated film with a live musical soundtrack that will most likely feature a who’s who of top musical talent. However, if you are looking for a live action ‘Little Mermaid,’ it is in the works, but for the big screen.

6.       ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ (NBC): The only one of these musicals that has any names attached to it (besides ‘Dirty Dancing’), NBC will be doing an updated remake of ‘Bye Bye Birdie,’ set to air in December. Actor Harvey Fierstein, who is helming the project, made significant changes to the original script, including to the main characters’ occupations. Jennifer Lopez will be starring in the show as Rosie, who will now be a music teacher instead of a secretary.

7.       ‘Rolling Stone 50’ (ABC): Technically not a “musical” in the truest sense; ABC has announced that they will be airing a special on February 7, 2018 celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Rolling Stone Magazine. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the special will feature musical performances, short films and iconic moments from throughout the magazine’s tenure. The special will be produced by Wenner Media, Rolling Stone’s parent company.

Live musical events on network television have been seeing a rise in popularity over the last four years.  Fox and NBC have seen ratings boosts from their previous specials and will be continuing to bank on such must-see TV live events into the 2017-2018 season. ABC is also looking to get in on the action this season with its own take on the live musical format. Whether this season’s shows will go off without a hitch or fall flat remains to be seen, but seen they will be.

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