DISNEY - HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, AMERICAN-IDOL STYLE

A casting competition for a new version of Disney Channel's High School Musical will be among eight unscripted series that ABC says it will carry this summer. High School Musical: Summer Session is scheduled to premiere on Sunday, July 20 and air on Sundays and Mondays for three weeks, then continue on Mondays only until the fall season begins in September. The contest is based on popular British competitions in which the winners receive starring roles in musical revivals. (An American version , Grease: You're the One that I Want, aired on NBC last year.) Meanwhile, actor Kevin Spacey, has spoken out against such programs, saying that they provide a huge amount of largely unjustified publicity for theatrical productions that draw away audiences from other, more deserving fare. Spacey, who's appearing in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow at the Old Vic, remarked in an interview with the London Times, "Where's our 13-week program?"

01/04/2008