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| Success of 'High School Musical' Success of Disney Channel's "High School Musical, " the sound track of which has hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard pop-music charts twice this year and gone triple platinum, has renewed interest in the teen musical genre. "When 'High School Musical' debuted on the Disney Channel on Jan. 20 of this year, it drew nearly eight million viewers, making it the top-rated basic-cable TV show that week, " says Farrow, who also co-wrote the award-winning indie feature "Slo-Mo." "My phone was ringing off the hook and my e-mail box was flooded with queries -- is yours next?" says Farrow. "I'm hopeful that it is." "Everyone told me I was crazy for writing a high school musical, " Farrow adds. "But it turns out my timing was perfect. And who doesn't like to tell their agent, 'I told you so!'" Like "High School Musical, " which has already been seen by 32 million viewers ages six to 14 in its first 10 screenings, and whose sound-track has already gone triple-platinum, Farrow and Piane's "In Your Dreams" is a large scale, splashy, teen musical -- with a dash of political satire. It centers around Helen, a 17-year-old girl who appears in three different incarnations, Black, Pink, and Blue. The musical opens with the bizarre introduction of Black Helen, a girl tortured by fellow students Melanie and Jordanna and secretly in love with Jared. We quickly learn that Black Helen is but a dream and as she fades and Pink Helen wakes up, we realize that Pink Helen's life is a perfect, bubble gum musical. She is popular, she's dating Jared, she has high hopes for a perfect day. And today is the day to beat all days. It is prom, and Helen is a front runner to win prom queen…until she learns that the "Popular Girls Caucus" has turned against her -- and is even stuffing the ballot box to engineer her defeat! "There's a little bit of political satire in the musical, to keep the older audience intrigued, " admits Farrow. Still, prior to "High School Musical's" explosive cable success, Farrow's musical was not met with universal praise. "Ryan Markowitz and Mark Kaufman at New Line passed, and Cristina Aguilera passed, " says Farrow dejectedly. "And the woman at MTV was vitriolic in her rejection of it. She remembered my movie 'Slo-Mo' and compared my musical to that, saying that my musical was terrible. She was nasty." But since the "High School Musical" cable explosion, Farrow has sealed a deal with Jason Eagan from Ars Nova, the New York City performance center, for a performance date this summer to showcase the songs. "Zeke and Lucian have written a gallant high school musical that kids will take their parents to, " says Eagan, who is excited about the possibility of eventually working with Farrow and Piane to mount a full production of the musical. Ars Nova opened its doors three years ago in memory of Gabe Wiener with the goal of being a home for artists to develop and perform new works in an intimate audience setting. Since then some of New York's top writers, directors and performers have walked through their doors with ideas and walked out with projects that were ready to be taken to the next level. Some of those names include Rufus Wainwright, David Cross, Sandra Bernhard, John Cameron Mitchell, Jason Biggs, Sarah Jessica Parker, Amy Sedaris, Paul Rudd, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, The Wau Wau Sisters, Moises Kaufman, James Lapine, Tony Kushner, Stephen Belber, and Michael Patrick King. What is helping to spur the excitement is the fact that "In Your Dreams'" 13 songs have already been professionally recorded on a CD with performances by a number of top Broadway singers, including "Hairspray's" Leslie Kritzer, "Wicked's" Laura Bell Bundy, "Les Miserable's" Jodie Langel, "Little Shop of Horror's" Kerry Butler, "Thoroughly Modern Millie's" Gavin Creel, "Hairspray's" Jackie Hoffman, "The Full Monty's" Sloan Just, and Anika Larsen, Danny Rocket and Anthony Rapp from "Rent." Rhythm and blues artist Shayna Steele is also a contributor. "Even Grammy and Emmy-Award Winner Marc Shaiman is on the recording, " says Farrow. The CD -- which includes songs such as "Better than Dreams, " "When You're the Queen, " "Put the I in Team, " and "I Was Born to Reign" -- was recorded in Shaiman's Manhattan sound studio with production time contributed by Shaiman. Says Farrow: "Because of the generosity of Marc Shaiman, the songs don't have to be imagined – they can actually be heard. I feel like Judy Davis in 'Impromptu.'" On the Hollywood side, Farrow has just registered a script version of "In Your Dreams" in the event that the film industry has a desire to pre-empt a stage production of the story aimed at the affluent teen and tween market. The $170 billion teen and tween entertainment market continues to be a major focus this spring for a number of content providers. For example, over the course of its twelve airings (January 20-April 21, 2006), Disney Channel's break-into-song "High School Musical" reached 36.5 million unique total viewers (persons 2+), 20.1 million households, 10.3 million kids 6-11 and 11.1 million tweens 9-14. The premiere of "High School Musical" delivered the highest ever household ratings for Disney Channel original programming. Traffic to DisneyChannel.com surged with the premiere of "High School Musical." Within a 24-hour period after its January 20 premiere, 1.2 million unique visitors logged on to DisneyChannel.com -- the most ever for the site. And that's not a small market by any means, says Farrow. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of youths between ages 12 and 19 climbed to 32.4 million in the United States, an increase of 4.5 million, according to a survey by Media Mark Research last year using U.S. Census data. The 12-19 year old market currently spends $170 billion a year on entertainment products, including movies. Among those in the entertainment community with a growing awareness of the significant market value that a theater-distributed rival to Disney Channel's cable based "High School Musical" has to offer are Dawn Buskin, Dawn Buskin, Zipatoni, Matt McQueen, Arc Worldwide, Suzanne Kyba, Door Number 3, Rob Sorcher, Jon Kamen, Radical Media, Ken Kaess, Jason Schlossberg, Marvin Mack, Jeff King, Euro RSCG, Steve Wax, McKinney & Silver, Hank Wasiak, The Concept Farm, Gregg Wasiak, Campfire, Chelsea Films, Tom Nelson, Gardner Nelson Partners, Kevin Roddy, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Wunderman Interactive, David Sable, Tina Miletich, Andy Rutberg, Jason Kuperman, Geraldine Laybourne, Jeremy Pagden, Tequila, Matt Freeman, Tribal DDB, RMG Connect, Philip Greenfield, Kevin Wassong, Linda Ellerbe, Ken Hamm, Bob Greenberg, R/GA, Carla Hendra, Bill Gray, Byte Interactive, Jan Leth, Chris Wall, Nathan Lane, Javier Martin, David Apicella, OgilvyInteractive, Ogilvy One, Penny Marshall, Havas, Michael LeBeau, Scott Marshall, Rosie O'Donnell, Heidi Browning, James Kim, Mark Kingdon, Organic B, neo@OgilvyOne, Ant Farm, Michael Koziol, Melissa Hunabach, RSCG Magnet, Pop Worx, Jacques-Herve, MRM Worldwide, Reuben Hendell, Media Contacts, Don Epperson, Martin Reidy, Brian Powley, Dani Nadel, Modem Media, Scott Sorokin, Nigel Morris, Toby Gabiner, Ron Belanger, Karim Sanjabi, Isobar, Norman Lehoulier, Nick Pahade, Grey Digital Marketing, George Gallate, Sergio Caruso, Gavin Coombes, Alex Bonibeck, Arnaud de Bayhast, Michael Emerson, Pam Larrick, FCBI, Jack Nolan, Graham Mills, Laura Lang, George Tannenbaun, Digitas, Clark Kokich, Avenue A/Razorfish, Don Scales, David Eastman, Agency.com, Ryan Kavanaugh of Gun Hill Road; Thomas Tull and Scott Mednick of Legendary Pictures; Oliver Obst; Melrose Investors; and Sarah Jessica Parker and Vanessa Taylor at Pretty Matches Productions, which is currently producing "The Washingtonienne, " an HBO sit-com about an amphibious Senatorial intern who befriends an influential Washington Insider who is headed in the wrong direction. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |