Why a high school drama series struggled to find its footing on network television
In short: Inspired by a real-life theater program, the musical drama Rise aimed to capture the intensity of high school performance. Despite a star-studded cast and original music, the show faced immediate comparisons to other musical series and criticism over its creative choices, leading to its cancellation after only one season.
Created by Jason Katims, Rise debuted on NBC in March 2018. The series was based on the 2013 book Drama High by Michael Sokolove, which documented the real-life experiences of teacher Lou Volpe and his theater program at Harry S Truman High School in Pennsylvania. In the television adaptation, Josh Radnor portrayed the lead character, Lou Mazzuchelli, an English teacher who takes over the drama department at Stanton High with the goal of staging a production of Spring Awakening.
The show featured an expansive ensemble cast, including Rosie Perez as the assistant director and Auliʻi Cravalho as a student lead. Beyond the drama of the stage, the narrative explored the personal lives of students and faculty, touching on themes of religious conservatism, family secrets, and identity. To enhance the musical elements, the production incorporated songs from the original Spring Awakening, alongside a new track written by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, and various covers of contemporary pop hits.
Despite being one of the first series ordered by NBC for the 2017–18 season, the show's reception was lukewarm. Review aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic both assigned the series a score of 59, reflecting mixed critical sentiment. The show also faced specific backlash from Out magazine, which argued that changing the real-life gay subject of the source material into a straight character amounted to LGBTQ erasure.
Following the conclusion of its 10-episode run, NBC canceled the series in May 2018. Reflecting on the cancellation in 2020, Rosie Perez suggested that the show suffered from being perceived as overly sentimental and was unfairly hindered by constant comparisons to the series Glee. While the show failed to secure a second season, it left behind a 24-track soundtrack featuring the cast's performances.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Rise (American TV series)
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