For reasons I can't quite explain, NBC has already announced its next live musical, despite not even having announced casting for its upcoming live musical, Peter Pan, scheduled in December. Presumably, this will be for December, 2015.
The show that they'll be doing is -- The Music Man. With the right casting, this is a fun show to do, and somewhat valid for a live production, since the stage show is slightly different in a few structural places from the movie version that people are most familiar with. And as a live TV production that softens the comparison to Robert Preston a wee bit, I think. (It's also my favorite musical, and the first I ever saw live, at the Shubert Theater in Chicago. Great casting, which I still remember despite being a wee kidling. Forrest Tucker, who most people know from F Troop. He's just what the role calls for, a brash, fast-talking con man who can charm the pants off the unsuspecting, the total opposite of the naive, trust River City-zians.) Mainly, it's terrific to see yet another live musical scheduled -- but how bizarre to announce it this early. They must be very confident that Peter Pan will do well (and even Grease). Maybe they want to steal the thunder back from Fox’s announcement, and be known as THE place for live theater on TV -- but as I said, they haven’t even announced casting for “Peter Pan” yet. Which brings up the casting. The one thing I dearly hope they stick to is that, as I said above, Harold Hill should be a slick, brashly-charming, fast-talking con man, the very opposite of the the people of River City. I've seen two productions with Harold Hill plays as a gosh-gee sly con man who endears himself to the townspeople as one of them (Dick Van Dyke on stage, and Matthew Broderick in the TV filmed remake), and while both were excellent in their performances, they were wrong for the role. A friend suggested Joseph Gordon-Leavitt. He's very talented and can bring the edge to the role. But for my taste he's a bit too young at what will be 34 next year. I prefer a Harold Hill with a bit more mileage on him – more cons in him, it’s all so second nature to him, and more weariness, too, open to finally settling down from a life on the road-- but I can accept Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It wouldn’t be bad casting in the slightest, which is always the fear. But I’d love to know more about other options. (If Jon Hamm can sing, he might be interesting. Or Bradley Cooper. And my friend suggested another solid choice -- Neil Patrick Harris) In the end, I suspect the network won’t ask me – but hey, that's their choice.
3 Comments
Douglass Abramson
5/13/2014 07:50:02 am
My vote would be for Craig Bierko. He's done the part on Broadway and earned both a Tony and a Drama Desk nomination for his work. He's not a "name" but he's been around so long and done so much TV he falls into "Oh that guy" territory. Funny that you think Gordon-Levitt is too young at 34; Bierko was 35 and Preston was 39 when they were doing the show on Broadway.
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Robert Elisberg
5/13/2014 08:34:47 am
I thought of Bierko, too, and would love to see him -- he was reportedly great in the role, I'd love to see it on record, and he's a Northwestern guy! But I will lay cash money that it's not Bierko, and give odds. (When they did the TV movie, Bierko had *just* done it on Broadway, and they didn't use him then when he could have been considered ideal for it.)
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Douglass Abramson
5/13/2014 12:58:44 pm
I wouldn't touch a bet on Bierko getting the part with a ten foot pole. I know that he won't get the part, but you can't blame a guy for blue skying a little. I shudder to think about the names being spit-balled in 30 Rock by the programming geniuses in charge. Best case, Hugh Jackman gets an itch for musical theater and doesn't have the time to commit to an actual stage show or concert tour. Worst case? Joey Lawrence has blackmail material on someone.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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