ABC is going under the sea!
The network has set The Little Mermaid as its first live musical event. That’s right — ABC is venturing into the world of the live music genre with a classic. The format was pioneered by NBC with Sound of Music in 2013.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, however, The Little Mermaid Live! isn’t going to be a fully staged production like the live musicals that have aired on other networks. Executive producer Hamish Hamilton described the production as an “interesting hybrid” between the animated original and live performances of the feature’s musical numbers.
“There will be visual signatures all the way through that will reinforce the original feature,” Hamilton explained. The actors will not re-voice the movie; they will only perform the songs. “The original feature will exist exactly as it always has, and then when we come to a song, we will transition from the original to the new.”
The Little Mermaid Live! production does not include writing new songs, but since a couple of major characters have no musical numbers, the TV production will be adding a few numbers from the Broadway musical.
“We’re not creating any new songs or any new characters or any new environments. We are celebrating the animated feature, but we are also celebrating the bigger world of The Little Mermaid,” Hamilton added.
The Little Mermaid Live! airs November 5, on ABC.
