Over the last two years, the start to the holiday season in the Broadway community has been marked not just by the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, but also by NBC's live broadcast of a musical. This old-fashioned concept is originally grounded in a trend from the '50s and '60s which most notably yielded Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, starring Julie Andrews, and PETER PAN, starring Mary Martin. Now that NBC has three live musical broadcasts under their belt and FOX is joining the party at the end of January, I think we can officially say television musicals have made a comeback. (Read all about the brief history of television musicals from the '50s and '60s here!)
NBC's broadcasts of THE SOUND OF MUSIC (2013), PETER PAN (2014), and THE WIZ (2015) showed us that everyone and their GBF has a strong opinion about every aspect of these broadcasts. In light of this heated debate, we decided to get everyone's opinions out there by asking the BroadwayWorld readers to share which shows they think should be broadcast live next. So CONSIDER THIS our formal proposal to NBC/Fox/the cool networks.
Leading the list are WICKED, A CHORUS LINE, and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, so check out some of the responses below and make sure to check out the rest on Facebook here and Twitter here!
BroadwayWorld Readers' Definitive Live Musical List
Twitter highlights:
@Fanzel24601: MY FAIR LADY STARRING @LauraBenanti!
@merman_geek : Hairspray! Rent! Mame! Hello Dolly! Beauty and the Beast! Mame or Dolly starring @KChenoweth
@kyleburgess25: Little Shop of Horrors with @jamesmiglehart
@retroporter: Revive "The Baker's Wife" by @composerstephen - that show needs to be restored in all its beauty.
@touchofcrass: let's get brave and tell a story this country must hear like RAGTIME
@NavigateEmpower: next musical should be: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST or In The Heights. Open call for leads
Facebook highlights:
Paul Reid: Pippin Live! With Raven Symone as the Leading Player and an unknown as Pippin. Gypsy Live! With Meryl Streep as Rose and Joel Grey as Herbie and then unknowns for everyone else. The three stripper should be Bernadette Peters as Tessie, Tyne Daly as Electra, and Patti LuPone as Mazzeppa.
Mario Camargo: Can I just say anything is good right now?
Anne Flynn: Funny Girl (although the lead would have extremely big shoes (sorry Barbra) to fill) or my second all time favorite- A CHORUS LINE, as I think Phantom, would be hard and a younger audience may not be ready for that story line.
Tim Stuff: Oliver! with Adele as Nancy and Patrick Stewart as Fagin. Or Seussical with Josh Gad as Horton, and NPH as The Cat in the Hat
Michael A. Dendy: "White Christmas" would be amazing or "The Music Man" with Seth McFarlane!
Ilene Burke: Les Miserables, not too many changes not too many scenery changes
Craig Kidder: A Chorus Line
Elizabeth Sollecito: Sondheim. Anything Sondheim.
Max Martinez: West Side Story, it is a classic ;)
Brynn Bonne: Bonnie And Clyde, Newsies, Ragtime or Guys And Dolls
Katie Conn: Wicked, Shrek the Musical, Hamilton, Les Mis, or a Disney show
Pat Evan: Collins Sweeney Todd forever
LingEber: Ben How to succed in Business without Really trying, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 13, Producers or AvenueQ. Color Purple with the Broadway cast
Beth Moffitt: Showboat. One of THE ORIGINALS and fantastic music that can be easily adapted to all kinds of voices. Also has themes that we should reflect upon today to make a better world for us all
Carly Murray: LES MISERABLES WITH THE 2014 REVIVAL CAST
Suzanne Quillian: Chorus Line, Cabaret, Chicago
Sean McGuigan: Bonnie and Clyde would be awesome
David Cook: Wicked. Nothing ancient.
Harold C. Christie: The Music Man with Neil Patrick Harris.
Carol Luper: A Chorus Line!
Deanne Adler: Les Miz, A Chorus Line, Hello Dolly.
Stephen Infantino: Another older one - maybe Carnival or Paint Your Wagon. Consider Damn Yankees or even Guys and Dolls!
Andres Tlaloc Regalado: WEST SIDE STORY.
Tim Graham: Something by SONDHEIM. Maybe "A Little Night Music."
Bradley James Gibbons: Ragtime. Duh.
Andrew Dove: Do something more daring like Carrie the Musical or Jekyll and Hyde or even Sweeney Todd
Billy Murphy: Hairspray Live
Janet Mingo: Chorus Line...or Chapter Two...
Ian Kennedy: I wish avenue q could be on tv
Lauren Koval: Miss saigon
Heather MacKinlay: The Secret Garden. I saw the original on Broadway, And it mesmerised me
Aashika Kumar: Wicked, Aladdin (but James Monroe Iglehart HAS to play the genie), South Pacific, or Rent.
Michael Mullins-Wright: I can't believe people are suggesting Wicked, Lion King, or Phantom. Come on guys. These are still successful, long running, and currently STILL playing on Broadway! Never gonna happen. I would suggest Little Shop, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Gypsy
Brian Lipensky: Since they keep having them air around the holidays, how about making one of them a holiday themed musical. How about A Christmas Carol: the Musical?
Amy Goodchild: The Music Man would be great. Guys and Dolls, Little Shop, Hello Dolly as well.
Robert Reeg: I would say Cinderella, guys and dolls, or little shop of horrors.
Mikki Malatesta: Les Miserables
Cindy Marie McVeigh: Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Rent and LES MISERABLES
Rashad Asim: Gypsy, Little Shop Of Horrors & Dreamgirls...none of which will happen BUT I can wish can't I?! [unsure emoticon]
And of course, the naysayers:
Don Azars: It depends..will it be as bad as Sound of Music and Peter Pan or better such as The Wiz?
Richard Ferri: Not a damn one. They all have been god awful Mr Davenport did it rite tonite with live streaming of Daddy Long Legs. It was magnificent!!!!!
Your move, ABC/NBC/Fox.
For more musical musings, follow Sally Henry on Twitter: @BwayGinger.
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