Many may long for the season 1 days of Riverdale. The lights were brighter, the romances less stale, and there was a straightforward mystery that was based on logic. But lest we forget, the following seasons of the Archie comics adaptation brought us something that no other show could handle. Archie (K.J. Apa) and the gang singing and dancing in niche musicals that for some reason also casts adults. But that is the beauty of what Riverdale ultimately became. A show so escapist that it continues to challenge its audience with what it would come up with next.
But it wasn’t so easy for the cast members of the teen drama. Every season following the first has had a musical episode, but no actors were consulted. When Vulture sat down the cast members for the final season and asked if singing was part of their audition, stars Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, and Madelaine Petsch answered in unison: “No.”
Petsch, who plays HBIC Cheryl Blossom, is the leader of the Riverdale cheer squad — The Vixens — and lamented that dancing never entered into the equation when she got the part. Playing the part of complex and dark Betty Cooper for seven years, Reinhart put it best: “They just put songs in there and were like, ‘You guys are singing, whether you suck or not.’”
True to his melancholic character Jughead Jones, Cole Sprouse was the only cast member who could avoid singing. At least for a time. He wasn’t so lucky in the later seasons when the musical episodes rolled around.
Planning doesn’t exist in Riverdale
The beauty of Riverdale is the impulsive nature that leads to the wildest storylines. It may not make sense all the time, and some storylines are left by the wayside with no explanation, but the show also produces gems. Betty has serial killer genes. A live-action role-playing game is killing students. Jughead is in a biker gang. These were all real plot points and all elements that make Riverdale unlike anything else. Fast-paced decisions are woven into the production of the series, and many actors like Kevin Keller actor Casey Cott have just made peace with that.
“I don’t think people understand how Riverdale works. Very quickly, before you start shooting an episode — we’re talking two days — you get the script. And sometimes you don’t even have a script. You just get an email that says, ‘You have a recording session.’ And if you’re really lucky, you get a text from Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] that says, ‘Hey, we should sing this song.’”
Even when on the set during the day of shooting, sometimes the music producer is as much in the dark as anyone else. Mendes shared an anecdote of a song in season 6 where the producer could only tell her: “I think you’re walking around and you’re kind of upset?” Riverdale has come a long way from the teen dramas of yesteryear. No longer do set pieces just include Seth and Ryan going to The Bait Shop to watch a band in The O.C. Riverdale demands full participation and with the show in its 7th and final season, it will truly be an end of an era when it goes.
