Julie and the Phantoms, brings the latest ‘musical drama’ to Netflix

Best on the Box for Saturday, October 10th takes us to Julie and the Phantoms.

From award-winning director and choreographer Kenny Ortega and choreographer Paul Becker comes this latest musical series about characters who embrace life’s ups and downs, follow their dreams and discover the power of their own voice.

“Early on in my career, I was fortunate enough to be mentored by the incredible artist Gene Kelly. One of the first things I learned from Gene was just how important it is to take on projects that have a strong “reason of being” — that raison d’être, as the French say. From the onset, when my representatives at Paradigm first pitched me the idea of reimagining this Brazilian series called Julie and the Phantoms.

“I immediately connected with the premise and felt there was a depth to the story we could explore. We were being given an open opportunity as a creative team to take this story further and expand on key themes. And as soon as I began working with the incredibly talented writers and showrunners Dan Cross and Dave Hoge, we really took off.” – Executive Producer Kenny Ortega

High schooler Julie (Madison Reyes) lost her passion for music after her mom died last year. But when the ghosts of three dreamy musicians (Charlie Gillespie, Owen Patrick Joyner, Jeremy Shada) from 1995 suddenly appear in her mom’s old music studio, Julie feels her own inner spirit beginning to reawaken, and she’s inspired to start singing and writing songs again.

As their friendship with Julie grows, the boys convince her to create a new band together: Julie and the Phantoms.

“I don’t do this work because I have to; I do it because I love it. And I truly believe that this story is magical and captivating, and will cross over into multiple generations. I’ve already tested it out on my family members and friends, from eight years old to my mother, who’s 93, and everybody seems to be moved by it in different ways.” – Executive Producer Kenny Ortega

Julie and the Phantoms, streaming from today on Netflix

FIVE FACTS

Before production began on the series the four main cast members were sent to a ‘performance boot camp’ for a month in order to perfect their singing, musical instrument playing, acting and dancing.

The dance to song Perfect Harmony is a homage to the famous final dance scene in the 1986 movie Dirty Dancing. There are a number of other nods to other films too.

The lead role of Julie saw 700 actresses audition either in person or via video submission, this was then whittled down to 100 and finally given to 14-year-old Madison Reyes in the last handful of hopefuls.

During the song, I’ve Got The Music, the trousers worn by the character of Julie for the number contain 5,0000 Swarovski Crystals.

The band name Sunset Curve is a tribute to Sunset Boulevard and its curve where famous venues such as Viper Room are located.