oncemorewithfeeling2 said: "If this tradition continues, despite as bad as theater fans my want it, NBC isn't going to run out and stage a show that the general public has zero or very little familiarity with. If they want people to tune it, it has to be a name that's recognizable or very closely tied to something people are familiar with. So, that means no live performances of Ragtime, Once Upon a Mattress, or Little Me, despite how good/bad/groundbreaking they could be.
Mamma Mia and Rock of Ages are recent movies. ROA wasn't wildly successful, but for the purposes of the NBC live performance, it's a no brainer--someone else did recently with a bigger budget, bigger names, and better then they could for TV.
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I'm a little surprised you put Once Upon a Mattress on your list of musicals that they wouldn't do. It has been filmed three times for television in the past. The last time being a full decade ago. Peter Pan was filmed last year and that was the fifth time that has been filmed for TV. The history of Once Upon a Mattress is incredibly comparable to Styne and Charlap's Peter Pan. So, why is it that you think that NBC would never choose to film this? The precedent seems as if it is already set.