I’ve seen many people on Twitter wondering about Riverdale’s decision to do an original musical.  Let’s face it!  The show has been a musical every season with some of the characters performing at Babylonia and other clubs.  I expect Riverdale to do a musical.  I expect Riverdale’s musical to be off the wall.  I expect to be surprised, delighted and confused all at the same time so why not do an original musical?  And why worry and fear the outcome?  

Let’s look back at history.  This trend really started in the mid 2010s when shows started getting the idea to let their musical theater/musical artist perform.  While I know The Flash (Grant Gustin who studied musical theater at my alma mater and was on Glee) and Supergirl (Melissa Benoist performed on Glee), it only seemed right to use their talents and became to be expected on all CW shows.  But there was another seven seasons show that did an independently written musical episode and it was part of their two hour season finale (and almost conclusion) of season six.  I covered the series with recaps and editorial.  The show, Once Upon a Time, was much like Riverdale with time shifts, dimension shifts and fans wondering can it be done.  Believe me!  It can.

Since Once Upon a Time is no longer on the airways, let me give you a few facts.  Once Upon a Time was strictly fantasy.  During the first seasons, we had characters with no memories of their past, drama and trips down the “rabbit hole” to other lands (sounds familiar right). We had to suspend belief because, after all, it dealt with fairy tales.  Then, suddenly, we got an alternate dimension where the fairy tales were slightly different.  The show had never been the Grimm Brothers’ version but now it was taking the stories in a new direction.  The bad queen, Regina, had redeemed herself in the ongoing story but in the other dimension was back to her evil ways.  We were introduced to characters who felt their stories in books hadn’t ended.  Then word got out that Once Upon a Time was going to do a musical during what might have been their final season (season six) and fans got worried.

Now Once Upon a Time was an ABC program which meant Disney.  Again, this was a plus in my mind because Disney has great song writers due to the movies.  The problem was that fans wanted something grand.  Emma and Hook had to be married.  All our heroes needed a happily ever after.  Rumple and Belle somehow had to reunite.  Then word came that ABC had decided to do a seventh season.  Most of the actors had not renewed their contracts.  Woe is me?  And as for performers, we really didn’t know if they could carry a tune, dance, or pull this off to fans expectations to begin with.

The executives did everything in their power to make fans happy.  The stars were given vocal training which proved how good they were.  There was even a surprise performance by Lana Parrilla (Regina/the evil queen) and she admitted to being scared of her number.  It may have been one of the more complex staged as it was written/performed in a David Bowie style complete with dance and her magically showing up to terrorize the locals.  Colin O’Donoghue (Captain Hook) broke his foot during his table dancing on “Revenge is Going to Be Mine.”  Like a trooper, he continued filming the number before going to the doctor and managed to hide his boot for the Emma and Hook wedding scene.

Now you are saying but no!  Riverdale isn’t going to do that.  They’re doing a production about Archie!  Granted that is different but I want you to consider this.  All musicals they have done in previous seasons were current or fairly well-known musicals that recently played on Broadway.  They resounded with the story lines that were part of the season.  Unfortunately, there are none that could suit the era that Riverdale is set in.  Little Shop of Horrors did not appear off-Broadway until 1982 though based on a 1960 film.  Grease, another one I had heard mentioned, appeared on Broadway in 1973.  Both were too early to be on the high school rounds in 1955. 

If Riverdale had done a musical from the 1950s era, they would have had to draw from shows like My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, etc.  Are you getting the picture?  All have sad moments but none of them really fitted what we’ve seen our gang go through this year.  How can any of these fit the Civil Rights movement, the LGBTQ issue, or even the book burning that happened on the most recent, pre-musical episode?  They wouldn’t so it is obvious that they’d have to look for other sources. Sure, they could have used songs of the early 1950s yet it was still not a good fit for the message that Riverdale is sending this season.  So with two budding song writers, Clay and Kevin, the idea evolved for doing their own musical theater tribute.  It’s like:  let’s do an all original musical and use Archie as the theme.  And with this move, can it not reflect what the gang has gone through this season in a way that advances the story?

I have seen the Riverdale gang perform and they have the chops to do it.  In fact, last night’s episode, The Crucible, actually gave KJ Apa (Archie) the chance to show his credentials.  We know from the past that each has stepped up and shown their worth.  If I am worried about anyone’s performance, it is Cole Sprouse (Jughead).  In the past, he has been reluctant but I’m sure his solo will be fine.  And since it looks to be in the Grease style, could Clay and Kevin turn out to be the ones behind Grease but under different names.

I really can’t say much about the performances of the characters and whether they do justice to their songs or not.  I will say that I found the short preview interesting and made me anxious to see the episode in its entirety.  Like with Once, I’m sure Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa won’t let us down.  He knew this would be the last season and has gone all out to bring us stories that ask the important questions.  How can he use the musical in the same way.  I haven’t yet found who wrote the songs, but my thoughts are that they will be Grease-like and advance the show’s search while entertaining us. 

So, my final opinion is this.  Don’t judge the upcoming musical episode of Riverdale until you see it.  I’ve done that and been pleasantly surprised.  I’ve been happy with Riverdale so far this season (even though our characters haven’t returned to present day) and enjoyed it much more than the past Rivervale.  The show has met expectations so don’t put an episode down until you see it.

See you next week to see who “bends toward justice” through the musical!