The Show Must Go On: Phantom of the Opera is the backdrop for murder mystery

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical version of The Phantom of the Opera is set to serve as the backdrop for the first season of a murder mystery anthology series that’s in the works at the Peacock streaming service. Created by Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist creator Austin Winsberg, the “darkly comedic” series is called The Show Must Go On – and if it lasts for more than one season, the plan is that “each season would take place in the days leading up to a big, live, televised event and would tackle a new murder with a refreshed cast.”

According to Deadline, the first season of The Show Must Go On is set

behind the scenes during the making of a fictitious version of Lloyd Webber’s worldwide mega-hit: The Phantom of The Opera Live! As if putting on a giant, live, beloved musical isn’t enough of a challenge, imagine how hard it will be with endless production problems, warring stars, mounting network pressures, and, oh yeah, the gruesome and untimely death of one of the leads. With a murderer on the loose, and a Phantom to contend with, the whole cast and crew will have to come together to put on the greatest show of their lives… that is – if they can live long enough to make it to the final curtain…

Winsberg and Lloyd Webber are executive producing The Show Must Go On with Eric and Kim Tannenbaum of The Tannenbaum Co, Robert Greenblatt of The Green Room, and pilot director Richard Shepard. Lloyd Webber may also appear on the show. Deadline notes, “While Phantom of the Opera will not be performed in its entirety as the season will follow the musical coming together in the background, many of its famous scenes and hits beloved by theater fans the world over, including “The Music of the Night”, will be featured on the show.“

Greenblatt provided the following statement:

Austin and I have a connection with musicals. When he pitched me the idea to do a murder mystery against a live musical backdrop, I thought it was perfect for me. So I reached out to Andrew Lloyd Webber to see if he would let us use Phantom of the Opera, which has never been done before. I pitched him the idea and he loved it and on got on board. I just thought it was the perfect show to have a murder happen because the show itself is macabre, and the Phantom is doing all these things in the basement of the theater.”

The Show Must Go On sounds interesting to me. I look forward to seeing how it turns out, and what other shows may end up serving as the backdrop if there are more seasons.

How does The Show Must Go On sound to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below.