ITV set to launch televised casting show for ”Mamma Mia!”
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage
ITV is set to reboot the musical theatre talent search genre and finding a new West End star is “The Name of the Game”!
Long-running West End hit musical Mamma Mia!, which features the songs of ABBA, has been chosen as the focus of a new reality TV competition at the independent channel, with a source telling The Sun: “This has been seen as an obvious choice for a reboot for years, but producers were waiting for the right musical and right moment.”
The format, which sees musical theatre hopefuls performing before a panel of celebrity judges and competing for the public vote in an elimination process, will reportedly return to the screens in 2023.
Previous ITV broadcasts have included Grease Is the Word (2007) and Superstar (2012), while the BBC’s offerings over the years have included How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? (2006), Any Dream Will Do (2007), I’d Do Anything (2008), Over the Rainbow (2010) and, most recently, Let It Shine (2017) for the Take That-infused jukebox musical The Band.
The yet-to-be-named series is being produced by Thames, the company behind Britain’s Got Talent.
