“Jumping up and dancing at the end of the show”

“Audiences are jumping up and dancing at the end of the show,” said director Julie Tomaino in an interview. “It’s such an easy show to watch. It’s short, and it contains so many songs you already know and love, and so many big personalities.” 

According to Tomaino, the cast and creative team put in countless hours to ensure that the performances honour — rather than mimic — the real people represented in the show.

“I definitely did a lot of research, and my assistant and I share a document where we kept videos of these people performing back in the day,” she said. ‘We referenced that, but we didn’t want to copy anything. I wanted the actors who I cast specifically because they embodied the essence of the characters. They didn’t necessarily look exactly like the character or real person, but they had that essence. It was really a collaboration between the actors and myself.”