‘SAY NO MORE ILL BE SEATED’: A ‘High School Musical’ phenom is bringing a Broadway record-breaker to the small screen and Disney kids are screlting

If there is one person with the power to unite adults of a certain age, it is Kenny Ortega. Millennials know him as the powerhouse behind one of the cornerstones of pop culture: High School Musical.

The franchise that launched the careers of Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens spawned two sequels and a television series of its own. And yet, that is only part of Ortega’s pedigree. The director has had a long history of music-related projects, including Dirty Dancing, Ferris Bueller, and Hocus Pocus. No filmmaker could be more prepared to bring an iconic musical to a new generation — even if that musical is a strange choice for adaptation.

Phantom of the Opera is getting the YA treatment

Young adult content has a long history of adapting well-known stories for younger audiences. Modernized versions of Shakespeare and Jane Austen have often been repackaged to introduce to new audiences. According to Deadline, Phantom of the Opera is next on the docket for adaptation. Sources indicate that this adaptation draws from Gaston Leroux’s classic French novel, published in 1909. However, fans of the director can’t ignore his musical success over the past few decades. If you’re getting Ortega to direct, it’s more than likely the result will be leaning into musical territory.

Deadline doesn’t confirm this, but it is worth mentioning that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s massively successful show of the same name was one of the longest-running productions on Broadway in its day. The musical ran for over three decades and spawned a feature film adaptation starring Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler, and Patrick Wilson in 2004. If Phantom of the Opera is being marketed to younger audiences, adding music wouldn’t be such a bad idea. In any case, fans are more than hyped to see a new adaptation of the material.

Judging from the online reactions, Ortega’s involvement seems to be pulling a lot of weight. Fans appear to be more focused on the director’s return to television than the project itself. And that could be the fly in the ointment. If there is one hang-up, it is that Phantom of the Opera doesn’t exactly lend itself well to translating to a younger audience. You might as well try to make Rent appropriate for middle schoolers.

Both the musical and Leroux’s book take place in the high-intensity world of the French opera. In 1880s France, an opera house is the site of an apparent haunting. Many accidents occur as well as a few deaths. The only person who benefits from these strange happenings is a Soprano, Christine Daaé. After the lead, Carlotta, falls ill, Christine takes over, achieving her professional dreams. All the while, she believes she is being tutored by an “Angel of Music” who she can hear but not see.

Christine soon learns this Angel is actually the Phantom, a deformed man, obsessed with her and manipulating events so she can lead the show. The mature themes and events of the story may be a challenge to cater to a younger audience, but as fans have indicated, if anyone can do it, it’s Ortega. The project is slated to appear on Disney, a company that has made no secret of its desire to franchise the film and for the media giant, Phantom of the Opera may be just another IP it is looking to capitalize on. Should the film make it to the final stages, it is set to appear on Disney Plus.