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Where are all the missing proshots?! | Frozen, Bonnie & Clyde, Six, Aladdin and more!
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Micky Jo
Now, I don't wish to alarm you, but there are at this exact moment, several professionally filmed musical theater video recordings just floating around the ether of the Internet. Which is not how the Internet works, but we'll pretend that it is. And right now we have no idea if we're ever going to get to see any of them. You may not even know that some of these pro shots were created, but I'm about to tell you. Oh my God. Hey. Welcome back to my theater themed YouTube channel. My name is Micky Jo and I am obsessed with all things theater theatre. I am a professional theatre critic, a pundit, a fan and a content creator here on social media. If you enjoy theatre themed content, you can also go and find me on other social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. But today I am putting my investigative journalist hat on. I don't actually have any hats nearby. You're going to have to pretend I have a hat. We're theatre people. We can suspend disbelief this much because I am on a mission, people of the Internet, to try and figure out what is the deal with all of these missing pro shots. So if you don't know, a pro shot is what we call a professionally filmed video recording of a musical. For example, the version of Hamilton that's on Disney. The version of Come From Away which was released on Apple tv. The recording of Waitress with Sara Bareilles that is currently mid release. The recording of Heather's that was released on Roku. And as theatre fans, we love a pro shot for understandable reasons. It's great to capture this performance and this moment in time and allow it to live on forever. For theatre fans around the world, it means suddenly that they have access and that these shows that they can't physically get to are suddenly attainable. In many instances, pro shots are also where theatre fans become theatre fans for the first time. How many people watched the Legally Blonde pro shot and fell in love with musical theatre that way? For me, it was the Cats VHS when I was a young child at my grandmother's house. Don't me, or should I say don't cat me. I tickled myself and that's just what made me like musicals. But it was years later when I discovered the thank God that they had recorded a bunch of original Broadway productions of Stephen Sondheim musicals like Sunday at the park with George, Like Passion and like into the woods that I learned so much more about what theatre could actually be. And there are many pro shots that we know are coming soon. They just recently announced that The Little Big Things, a new musical, was filmed during its West End run at Soho Place, and that's soon to be released via the National Theatre's streaming platform. But in the world of pro shot recordings, there are still a great many unanswered questions, and a lot of this, I think, has to do with Hamilton. So if we cast our mind back a few years, it was mid pandemic. Hamilton had been professionally filmed prior to this, with many of the original cast returning to the Broadway production, including its star and writer, Lin Manuel Miranda. Hamilton at this point had already become a global sensation, transcending the musical theatre world, and it was just a known phenomenon. This, combined with the captive audience of people stuck in their homes, made it super attractive to streaming platforms. And in fact, if I remember rightly, there was something of a bidding war to see who would actually get to distribute Hamilton. By and large, when these recordings are made, they do not have a distributor, guaranteed at that time, which is something we'll find out more about later. Ultimately, Hamilton was released on Disney, and in the wake of that, it seemed as though a great many pro shots of other shows were getting greenlit. But for whatever reason, the interest by the streaming platforms seemed to dissipate and we ended up with many shows confirming that a pro shot had been made, but then not being able to announce when it would actually be released. And there are still some we're waiting to hear from, as well as some that were filmed secretly and just haven't said anything. So welcome to my awareness campaign. Here are 10 theatrical pro shots that are currently missing, starting with number one, which in truth doesn't really count because it's only very recently been filmed and we're probably going to hear something about it soon. But I am talking about Disney's Frozen. That's right. Plush Princess Anna from Frozen. They did film a pro shot. You still have a tag on. Excuse me. There we go. But it's true. The West End production of Frozen recently filmed a full pro shot recording at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which is exciting for multiple reasons. I know, I'm very excited. Not only does the production boast a fantastic cast, but I believe it's also the largest version of the show. There's one particular enormous bridge set piece that was created for London, and having recently seen a replica version of the show in Hamburg, Germany, it's interesting to see the same production, but on a much smaller scale. Now, I don't know if it's officially been confirmed that Frozen was filmed, but people absolutely know about it for A handful of reasons. For one thing, I saw a producer post on their Instagram story that they were going to see the show in a week, that there were no public performances. Evidently there was an invited audience so that they could have the necessary atmosphere for a pro shot recording an audience that I was not part of. Rude. And I'm not lying to you about that. I haven't been in a pro shot filming since SpongeBob SquarePants in Plymouth, which was a long time ago and now it's several years later. But as if that wasn't proof enough, I actually inadvertently ended up seeing the first show on after they had this week without performances. And that was meant to be Samantha Barks return to the role of Elsa after being on maternity leave and with no shade whatsoever to this cast. There is a difference in vocal health when you've had like a long time away from a role or a long vacation or even a long weekend, and when you've just spent a week back to back performing and filming the show because everyone sounded a little bit vocally fatigued, shall we say that. And a handful of small things were changed in the show. Like when Olaf makes the reference to Samantha from Frozen 2 that had been taken out. That's because the creative team had tinkered with it for the final filmed version. So we know that Frozen has had a pro shot, but when exactly are we going to see it? Well, it seems pretty obvious that this one is going to be on Disney, right? Because it's Disney and the West End production is set to conclude its run this September. The most obvious thing would be to release this around Christmas. You know, it's Frozen, it's wintery vibes. However, that's not guaranteed because this show also has that dual marketing approach where they sometimes push Frozen in winter, but. But they also push Frozen in the summer, which would also make a lot of sense for them because you have the summer holidays, kids are off school, so maybe we'll see it as early as this summer on Disney. Who knows? Now, I wish I had that much intel for you on all of these pro shots, but some of these are really mysterious. Like this next one, Jersey Boys with Nick Jonas. So this definitely happened. This was filmed in summer of 2021, I believe. Nick Jonas was posting on his Instagram page video of him dressed as Frankie Valli on on the Jersey Boys set in a theater where it was being filmed. The creative team had returned to direct the show. This was a big deal. This was Jersey Boys, the full stage musical being filmed. You know, A lot of people love this show and they don't love the movie adaptation. So we're really excited for this filmed version and Nick Jonas, a huge star in the lead. Why is it then, especially when they were so public about it happening, that we've never seen this or really heard many updates about it? Well, one possible theory has to do with its original distributor, so. So the show, I believe, was linked to HBO and now I follow theater news. So I haven't been too closely paying attention to the whole HBO Max thing, but my stagey fiance, Aaron James has and I occasionally listen into the YouTube videos that he watches. And from what I understand, a bunch of projects were effectively scrapped in perpetuity by the studio in order to attain a tax write off. So while I don't think we've had confirmation that this has happened to Jersey Boys, I worry that it could be a possibility and we will never get to see a recording of Nick Jonas Frankie Valli. Next. We're heading back to the West End. In fact, we're heading back to Theater Royal Drury Lane for Bonnie and Clyde in concert. Now, I say in concert. I was lucky enough to be at this performance. And the extent to which this was staged by Nick Winston is essentially the same as the current version of Bonnie and Clyde that is on tour around the uk. That was in the West End at the Arts Theatre and then the Garrick. When we say concert production, that means very different things for different creatives. And for these ones, it meant full costuming, it meant choreography, it meant no scripts in hand, it meant staging, it meant intensity. And for all of those, we need to hope that this pro shot exists somewhere. Now, like I said, I was at this concert, I saw the cameras. I know for a fact that this got filmed. And if people have stopped asking questions about when it's going to be released, if ever, that's probably because they were satiated by the show's West End runs and subsequent tour. And that second West End cast recorded a cast recording as well. But I am telling you that we need to see this pro shot of that concert because it was sensational. Not only did you have original leading man Jeremy Jordan returning to the role of Clyde, giving a bruising and hilarious performance in the way that only he can, with, of course, the soaring high tenor vocals. But you had Frances Melanie McCann taking on the role of Bonnie at the very top of her game. There was absolutely this sense that she knew she needed to rise to this occasion alongside Broadway royalty. If you want to know more about how great this concert was. I did a review video of it on my channel a long time ago. But in any case, we need to see this pro shot. The whole wider supporting cast I think is also the best supporting cast the show has ever had. Natalie McQueen hilar as Blanche and she left the show before they did the cast recording, so there is no record of her performance. And she was so good in this role. George Maguire as Buck who would stay with the show, but also Trevor Dionne Nicholas as the preacher giving you insane gospel vocals. It was just such a fantastic night of theatre. I really hope that this A exists somewhere and B is actually going to be seen. Can we start a campaign to tweet the Bonnie and Clyde accounts about wear this in because I feel very passionately about this one. Next up, one. I'm sure you are curious about the royally anticipated recording of Six. So global sensation Six the Musical has to be one of the most popular shows in recent years. And what's super exciting is that the show's original West End cast filmed a pro shot recording at the new home of the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End a few years ago. In fact, they reunited to perform the show in concert at Hampton Court palace, and I believe they filmed the pro shot the week after. At the time, it seemed as though perhaps they were doing the Hampton Court concert to get used to the material again and get into the groove so that the pro shot would be even better and so that they'd have that chemistry of being the six of them. Not that they needed to reform to do that because after the show they formed a girl group along with the show's original swing, Grace Moatt, called Seven or there's no vowels in it, so is it called Sven? But the pro shot features JJ Richard Noel, Millie O'Connell, Natalie Parris, Alexia McIntosh, Amy Atkinson and Mayor Kwanza Breed. We know for certainty it was filmed. I know people who won the ballot and were there, but since it was filmed, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we've heard anything about this one. And I don't think it was last summer either. I think this must have been 2022, which makes me very concerned because Six has enough global popularity. Like maybe not a Hamilton level bidding war, but certainly there should be a streaming platform eager to distribute this. Now, for reasons I can't quantify, I feel like Six might be of all the shows on this list, the one we actually see first. I have hope that something is happening in the background, bring about the release of this pro shot. But the show has just celebrated its sixth anniversary in the West End. That came and went and they didn't announce the release of the pro shot. I genuinely don't know. But I have faith that this one will turn up sooner rather than later. Next up, another musical filmed in the West End that we've been waiting even longer for. It's another Disney show and this time it's Aladdin. So if you didn't know, surprise. The stage version of Aladdin has also been filmed for a pro shot. We know that this happened because actors have confirmed that they were in it. I believe the show was filmed right towards the end of the show's West End run at the Prince Edward Theatre, which was a long time ago now. And now, obviously Aladdin is not going to have the same issue that something like Six might have where they're hoping to find a distributor. Because Aladdin would obviously be distributed by Disney. And so you might be beginning to realize that the fact we still haven't seen it or heard anything about it in years is troubling. And you would be right. This is one on the list I don't think we are ever going to see. And there's a reason for that. I say we're never going to see it because the show has just celebrated its 10th anniversary on Broadway. They're doing a whole pop up at the Disney Store in Times Square. They've added a new lamp to the marquee of the New Amsterdam Theatre. Like they're going all out to celebrate Aladdin. But they're still not releasing the pro shot on their streaming platform. And with no confirmation whatsoever. My suspicion is that it has to do with casting because in its 10 year history on Broadway, Aladdin has come to be a show with authentic representative casting of Middle Eastern performers. But it wasn't always that way. Back in the show's history, non Middle Eastern and even white performers were cast in these roles if they just matched the aesthetic of the race that they were trying to portray. Something which I believe happened in at least one major role in the pro shot recording. And in recent years, the theatre industry has had very necessary conversations about representation and authenticity in casting. And Disney, being sensibly careful with their international brand, I think are reluctant to put something out there that draw criticism. So sadly, despite the talent of the performers involved, I don't think we're ever gonna see Aladdin. Now that we're halfway, let's head over to Broadway and find out about some American pro shots that we're still waiting to hear more about one of those is Girl from the north country, the show which was on Broadway a few years ago and combined a script by Conor McPherson with the music of Bob Dylan. The show was definitely filmed professionally on stage and is also separately being turned into a major motion picture. But it's possible that that is the very reason we haven't seen the pro shot yet, and we might not for some time or maybe ever. And that's because if there's one market even more precarious than musical theatre pro shots, it's musical movies. For some reason, after a few years of them being super successful and taken very seriously, we're back into this zone of a lot of them being thought of as shallow flops. Recent movie musical adaptations like the Color Purple and Mean Girls were not received as well as they surely hoped to be. And so it makes sense that Girl from the north country would want to be very careful about the upcoming film adaptation. They have a very exciting cast for this. Olivia Colburn is going to be starring in this film, but it not being a hugely well known title, it's going to be a difficult enough sell to audiences without the existence of a professionally recorded version of the stage musical confusing that marketing narrative. Now, it could be that we get the pro shot release after the film, especially if the film is surprisingly really successful. But I worry there is also the possibility that we're literally never going to see it. Next up, here are a few that I found out about while researching for this video. Apparently Mr. Saturday Night, which starred Billy Crystal and Shoshana Bean on Broadway not too long ago, was filmed by Broadway hd, but they haven't yet confirmed a release date. That's really all the information that I have on that one. It didn't exactly light up Broadway when it was there, but I know people personally who were fans of this show and would surely love the opportunity to watch it again. And it's also a little puzzling that that hasn't come to fruition yet. If the distributor is Broadway hd, it seems like there would be fewer hoops to jump through in that instance. Maybe it's something to do with Billy Crystal. I mean, I mean, let's not blame Billy Crystal. I don't. I don't know his life from Broadway to Off Broadway. Apparently between the Lines got filmed for a pro shot and we know this to be true because they previewed part of it at Broadway Con. So this exists. People have seen a snippet of it, but they've still been really quiet about it. Now I heard great things about between the Lines. People brought that show to my attention in the comments section of my YouTube video, and I would love to find out more about it. If a pro shot exists, I would watch the heck out of that pro shot because that's a great way to discover a new show by getting to watch a professional recording of it. So many shows that I know about it's because of Pro Shots, but I haven't had the opportunity yet because where is it? Where are you? Between the lines. And then we also have Emoji Land. Now, someone told me about this the last time I mentioned this topic about missing pro shots, and this is a bit of an interesting story because there was going to be a tour of Emoji land in summer 2022 that was ultimately cancelled, but they had, I believe, one public performance so that they could film a pro shot. A pro shot that has never materialized and in fact I do not know much about that one. But if possible, I know even less about this last one. And you may not have even heard that this got filmed professionally, and I'm not 100% sure that it did, but I am talking about West End and Broadway hits the Play that Goes Wrong. So there are conflicting reports of this having been professionally filmed, and I first suspected that it might have been when the show's original cast reunited several years after having last performed it to do a run of the show regionally in the UK and then, I believe, also in the US around the same time. And the Internet can't quite decide whether they think it was filmed in the UK or in the us. Possibly they filmed bitcoin bits in both and they wanted to try it out with different international audiences. That's a working theory, but I see little other reason why the original cast of this very successful show, who I should mention are all very busy with a lot of other projects, would reunite for such a short amount of time if not to film it for posterity. And they have a whole TV deal. They had their TV series, the Goes Wrong show for two seasons. Their shows have consistently had a presence in the UK and the show continues to run off Broadway. If they're waiting for these versions of the Play that Goes Wrong to close so they don't cut into the business of people going to see it in person, they might be waiting a long time. But as we've seen from Hamilton, the existence of an available recorded version of the show doesn't stop people going to see it. It continues to sell well in the US and in the UK really? Well in fact it's Hamilton. But that brings us to the end of everything that I know so far. And this is where I turn to you tiny people in my camera. Because if you know something about any of these pro shots, if you happen to be in the audience for any of these tapings and you didn't sign non disclosure agreements moments, I would love to hear any more info about any of these. When do we think we might see these? Which ones do we think have disappeared forever? And more importantly, which of these 10 pro shots would you be the most excited to see if they got released? So to summarize your homework, tell me everything you know. You can comment or you can message me privately. I don't mind. Remind your theater friends that we are still waiting for these pro shots. We are waiting for six. We are waiting for Jersey Boys. We are waiting for Bonnie and Clyde. I'm waiting personally, I'm not a patient man. And finally, make sure to keep supporting live theatre so that filming, professional recordings or it keep being possible. Thank you so much for watching today's video. I hope that you have enjoyed, I hope that it's been enlightening and I hope that I have good news to bring you soon about any or all of these pro shots. In the meantime, comment with all your thoughts down below. Make sure to subscribe to my theatre themed YouTube channel so you don't miss any exciting news and go follow me on other social media platforms. I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For ten more seconds. I'm Mickey Jo Theater. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.