Basanese on Return of Musical Theater to TV: Boston Globe

Visual and Media Arts associate professor and former scriptwriter Manny Basanese shared his expertise on the resurgence of musical theater on television, as Apple TV+’s “Schmigadoon!” debuted in July and continues a trend that began in 2013 with NBC’s live “The Sound of Music.”

Basanese says that shows like “American Idol” and “The Voice” are part of the reason for this trend:

Singing competitions showed the networks there could be an audience for entertainment that they viewed as corny before.

He also explained that in the 1950s, Broadway had a presence on mainstream TV, until rock ‘n’ roll came onto the scene and essentially killed it off for a long time.

Read The Boston Globe piece.