Jason Katims new show that is based on Michael Sokolove’s wonderful non-fiction book about the famous theatre program at Harry S. Truman High School in Levittown, PA begins tonight.
The book was excellent and I hope that the show will be, too!
I am from Levittown 
I liked the ads during the Olympics. I put it in my Netflix queue.
A Young man D grew up doing theater with is in the cast - we will be watching!
Just watched. They had me from the beginning- the background music was so similar to Friday Night Lights, I almost had goosebumps. Of course there will never be a football coach like Coach Taylor, and I was searching for the new Riggins, and Saracen, and Lila, etc., but so far it looks good and I’ll be watching with interest.
^^^Had to DVR it so we can all watch it together. Love seeing a hometown kid!
Damon Gillespie did two years at CCPA before getting called to NYC for Newsies,FWIW.
Gosh, i thought the whole thing was super stereotypical…was anyone disturbed by the whole premise of the show:the mixed race woman, who had put in her time in theatre, being passed over for a white male with NO experience who gets a free pass to follow his dream…plus, has anyone been able to give Spring Awakening its due in a public high school w/o cutting and changing language, nudity, etc…) also, how fair is it to pass over the talented seniors who have their paid their dues in other productions, for newbies with heart?? I may hate watch for the music only…and I loved SMASH and glee…too bad
The actual high school theater program that this show is based on was built over decades into a powerhouse and Broadway producers piloted several high school versions of shows (some that would be controversial for a high school group to perform), including Spring Awakening. That’s what I’m sad that this show won’t be able to show, as it starts off the bat with SA. I understand why they made that choice for the pilot, but it would’ve been nice to follow an arc of a growing theater program.
I disagree that the seniors who have paid their dues should be given roles. I have a son who got the lead as a freshman and also who was also cast in a non-lead role as a senior so I’ve been on both sides. Other than if a director knows that a student won’t have the work ethic to handle a lead role (based on experience with that particular student), the audition process should dictate the casting.
@lovetoact, I absolutely agree with you that it would have been nice to follow a more realistic story arc. Lou Volpe taught at Truman for 40 years! To have changed the character so drastically, in my opinion, was a mistake. As with most tv dramas, there are going to be unrealistic aspects to the show, especially to those of us who know theatre. Exhibit #1 - changing the show overnight without going through the process of securing the rights. In any case, I think there are other aspects of the show that are going to enable us to forgive such factors.
The cast is excellent, kids included and it is far more realistic, thank heavens!, than Glee was. It is also refreshing to hear the kids actually sing, and without use of autotune. Bravo for that! The fact that it’s filmed in NY will allow for many theatre actors to be in the show, something that is always a positive, e.g., Stephanie Block as a parent. There are LOTs of theatre people involved with this show behind the scenes, too, so I’m hopeful that it will continue to improve as we learn more about the characters.
I have never been a proponent of kids who have ‘paid their dues’ being guaranteed casting. I don’t think that most well-respected high school theatre programs do that, certainly not the ones with which I’m familiar. As for Truman’s shows, they absolutely did give the shows their due while Lou was teaching there,. I haven’t seen any shows since but I have no reason to believe that that has changed.
I look forward to watching the following nine episodes. And I encourage everyone to read the book on which it was based.
@alwaysamom 100% agree that everyone should read the book–I loved it so much!
I thought the show was pretty good, but the guy in the lead role seemed a bit out of place.
The basics of the show reminded me too much of Glee with the struggling blue collar town, the downtrodden theater department (or Glee club for Glee) and the star quarterback that needs to be persuaded to pursue his dream of singing on stage. Not to mention the romantic chemistry between the QB and the pretty young girl playing the lead. The lead guy, however, does not have the easy charm of Matthew Morrison.
And yes, it did bother me that the white guy replaced Rosie Perez, who had been in the role for a decade. She seemed to accept it too easily, but I hope the show can expand on this in future episodes.
This is very funny. https://hellogiggles.com/news/musical-theater-rise-pilot/
OK - the second episode was better, I think. Still, the guy in the lead role as the new theater department head is kind of a jerk with the way he treated Rosie Perez. Auli’i Cravalho is stunning - since she has some Puerto Rican heritage (along with Hawaiian, Chinese and Swedish), I wonder if she’ll be under consideration for Maria when Spielberg does West Side Story without a whitewashed cast ?
I agree that the second episode was better. A few very poignant moments. Loved the scene with Gwen singing Purple Summer. The extraneous storylines, e.g., the son’s drinking problem, are a little tiresome but that’s typical with tv dramas. Still wishing that they had modelled Lou’s character more on the real Lou.
As much as I love musicals, I am just not liking “Rise” so far. Even after reading the book (which is honestly better than the show), I still can’t get past the way Lou is treating Tracie, how it’s literally another “Glee,” and how we still have yet to hear if they actually got the rights to produce this show (and many other issues). I might give it another two or so episodes, but I don’t know if I would be willing to stick it out until the end of the season either.
They are losing me. And quickly
After finishing this last episode, I changed my mind - I guess it’s growing on me after all. 
@journeytothepast agree on it being too close to Glee where the star QB has to be convinced to sing, And, I keep thinking Rosie Perez (Tracie) is going to rip Lou’s head off one day
Sorry to bring the bad news, but it looks like Rise will not return after the season finale tomorrow night. So, the 10 episode run was it. The show had some promise, but never seemed to manage its many storylines and subplots that well. Plus, my daughter laughed at some of the timelines. Week 6, they’re starting Tech Week. Then, Week 7, the head of the program, Lou Mazzuchelli, says that he is lending male lead Robbie Stone back to the football team full time, and that Robbie will be full time on the play the following week.