John Ondrasik will soon be focusing his musical attention on the small screen.
The Five for Fighting singer/songwriter is teaming up with celebrated ‘Wicked’ songwriter/lyricist Stephen Schwartz for ‘Someone Like Me,’ a new, music-driven drama for ABC, according to Variety:
[The show] explores the lives of two sisters. One is a singer-songwriter legend, the other forever in her shadow; their worlds collide as adults, sending their family and friends spinning — especially a 17-year-old girl whose own talents are exploding.
Ondrasik and Schwartz will write original music for the series, which was initially conceived by the songwriters along with Dawn Soler, senior VP of music at ABC.
Ondrasik and Schwartz will serve as executive producers along with Richard B. Lewis (‘August Rush’) and Karen Janszen (‘A Dolphin Tale’), who will also write the script.
‘Footloose’ might be underperforming at the box office, but a television show fusing music and drama makes total sense. ‘Glee’ cornered the market on Karaoke-style numbers, but here’s betting Ondrasik and Schwartz have something far more ambitious up their sleeves.