Broadway has gone dark, but the show must go on! That is exactly what Universal was thinking when they decided to bring musicals from the stage to screen with their new YouTube channel, aptly named The Shows Must Go On, of course. The channel will feature videos of show tunes, performances, and even full-length musicals.
A major feature of the project is that Universal partnered Andrew Lloyd Weber, the composer behind Broadway classics like Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Evita, and School of Rock. Recordings of Weber’s productions will be shared for a limited time on the channel!
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will be the first musical to premiere on the channel on Friday, April 3 at 2:00 PM EDT and will be available to watch for 48 hours. The 2012 production of Weber’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar will premiere on YouTube the following weekend. In the official announcement for the channel, Weber also announced that at some point in the schedule, “the most important one,” his musical By Jeeves will also be streamed.
So far, no other musicals have been announced and there isn’t a schedule for how long the project will go on, but we’re hoping we’ll get to enjoy many of our favorite musicals between now and then! And, if you want more of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s work, he has been sharing videos on his social media where he sings some of the songs from his musicals and reacts to fan covers with the tag #HomeIsWhereTheMusicIs.