Hulu Musical Series Up Here Will Feature Songs From Frozen And WandaVision Songwriters
The minds behind "Frozen," "Hamilton," and "WandaVision" are teaming up for a series, and the resulting eight episodes will surely feature catchy tunes from which you'll never be able to escape. Some of musical theater's biggest Hollywood hotshots are joining creative forces for Hulu's upcoming romantic comedy series, "Up Here." Per Variety, here's what we can expect from the show:
"The show is set in New York City in the waning days of 1999, following the extraordinary story of one ordinary couple, as they fall in love — and discover that the single greatest obstacle to finding happiness together might just be themselves — and the treacherous world of memories, obsessions, fears, and fantasies that lives inside their heads."
The series sounds like a wild mish-mash of romance and musical fantasy, which seems perfectly up the alley of everyone involved. Penning the series is "tick, tick... Boom!" and "Dear Evan Hansen" screenwriter Steven Levenson and veteran TV writer Danielle Sanchez-Witzel ("New Girl," "My Name Is Earl"), with Thomas Kail ("Hamilton") slated to direct. "Up Here" also features original songs from "Frozen" songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The series itself is based on a 2015 stage project from Anderson-Lopez and Lopez, who will also serve as writers. Jennifer Todd ("Memento," "Jason Bourne") serves as a producer for the show, which falls under the overall deal Kail and Todd signed with 20th Television in 2020. Casting for "Up Here" is currently underway and production is expected to begin this summer in New York.
A Who's Who Of Musical Theater
I'm not gonna lie — as a recovering "Glee" fan, this is pretty thrilling news. The world needs more musical series! Especially since the ones we already have are so thoroughly under-appreciated. Plus, this one comes with original music from a very talented duo of songwriters. Sure, this is just an open invitation for them to make yet another song play on an endless loop in my brain, but then again, isn't life just a cycle of relentless earworms?
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are two of the most celebrated songwriters working today. The duo has already won Oscars for penning "Let It Go" for "Frozen" and "Remember Me" for "Coco," and they most recently snagged an Emmy for the "WandaVision" breakout song "Agatha All Along." This ended up making Robert Lopez the only living double EGOT winner, with two Emmys, two Grammy, two Oscars, and two Tony Awards. Anderson-Lopez isn't far behind, and is just one Tony away from the ever-exclusive club. Surely the decorated songwriters are bound to deliver another soundtrack of unforgettable tunes.
Awards are abundant in this team-up. The very busy Thomas Kail won his first Tony for directing the Broadway production of "Hamilton" and later picked up an Emmy for directing "Grease: Live." Kail also served as a director of "Fosse/Verdon" and has an exciting slate of projects in the works, including the World War II drama "Silver Wings" and a remake of "Fiddler on the Roof." In addition to penning two of last year's biggest musicals, Levenson also developed the Emmy-winning FX limited series "Fosse/Verdon," and is set to write the "Fiddler on the Roof" remake.