If you have loved the High School Musical trilogy or musicals in general, here’s good news for you! Netflix is launching a new original series, next week, September 10! Julie and the Phantoms is a musical series about embracing the ups and downs of life, exploring one’s passion, and realizing the power of their own voice!
Curious to know what this new show is all about? From its amazing cast to the tracks we’re going to be jamming out with soon, we give you a rundown of six things you should know just before the show launches globally next week!
1. Julie and the Phantoms is based on a 2011 Brazilian series.
A 9-episode series based on a Brazilian series called Julie e os Fantasmas, Julie and the Phantoms centers on a girl named Julie who lost her passion for music ever since her mother died. However, when she encounters three ghostly guys from a band in her mother’s old studio, she slowly finds her passion again, rekindling her love for singing and making music. This leads her to joining her newly-found friends in a band — Julie and the Phantoms.
2. Madison Reyes stars as the titular character, Julie
Leading the cast of Julie and the Phantoms is Madison Reyes, who will be making her professional acting debut as Julie.
According to the press notes, Reyes, who was 14 years old back then, was one of the 700 girls who auditioned for Julie. She recorded herself from their family garage and sung “She Used To Be Mine” from the Broadway musical Waitress while playing the piano.
Director Kenny Ortega recalled that her audition was pretty memorable since she did all the lines for every character in the scene, even when she only needs to do Julie’s!
3. Joining Reyes is a talented cast who can act and play instruments!
The story of the show wouldn’t happen without the boys of Sunset Curve, and when looking for the guys to play this role, it was important that they find someone who can not only act but also have natural musical talents!
Charlies Gillespie plays Luke – the band’s lead guitarist – who’s described to be a confident and likable guy hiding a more vulnerable and sensitive side in him. The actor can also play numerous instruments including the bass, trombone, tuba, piano, violin, and saxophone! Talk about being talented, right?
Jeremy Shada plays the bassist Reggie, who is known to be the band’s resident prankster. He is best known for his work in the hit animated series Adventure Time where he voices Finn the Human!
Lastly, there’s Owen Joyner, who portrays the drummer Alex — the band’s emotional glue. A huge musical theater fan, the actor also starred in a lot of community theater productions. According to the press notes, his most favorite role is Oklahoma‘s Curly.
Aside from the boys of Sunset Curve, the show also stars Cheyenne Jackson, Booboo Stewart, Jadah Marie, and Carlos Ponce.
4. The cast had to go to a boot camp before production started.
To prepare before filming kicks off, the main cast had to go on a month-long performance boot camp. Here they had to do acting, singing, dancing, and instrument training to make sure that the portrayals of their roles will be perfect.
As shared on the press notes, Charles Gillespie had to go on a vocal rest before boot camp started after practicing his songs so hard that he lost his voice.
5. Julie and the Phantoms comes from the award-winning director Kenny Ortega.
If you think that the name sounds familiar, you’ve probably encountered his name already one way or another! Kenny Ortega is the name behind films like the High School Musical and the Descendants trilogy, as well as Newsies, Hocus Pocus, and Michael Jackson’s This Is It.
He also choreographed for the films Dirty Dancing, Pretty in Pink, and more. There are also Easter Eggs in Julie and the Phantoms that reference his works in Dirty Dancing, so you better keep an eye on that if you loved the 1987 film!
Kenny Ortega directs the film alongside Paul Becker, Kristine Hanggi, and Kabir Akhtar.
6. The series also features an original soundtrack.
Since Julie and the Phantoms is a musical series, expect that it will be featuring a lineup of original songs from not just Julie, but also from the boys of Sunset Curve and Cheyenne Jackson’s Caleb Covington!
To those who tend to listen to a show’s soundtrack as soon as you’re done binge-watching it, here’s something to look forward to! Netflix will also be releasing the 15-track OST to Julie and the Phantoms on September 10. The album will be up for streaming on Spotify, and will include songs like “Wake Up”, “Bright”, “Perfect Harmony”, “Unsaid Emily”, and more!
To give audience a short teaser on one of the songs, Netflix dropped a short clip of the cast performing the acoustic version to “Edge of Great”! Check it out below:
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Julie and the Phantoms launches globally on Netflix this September 10. Follow its official Netflix page for updates.
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WATCH: The Official Trailer to ‘Julie and the Phantoms’, Netflix’s Original Musical Series
