New show: 'Viva Laughlin' bursts into song
Posted: Thursday, July 19, 2007 10:01 PM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
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TV
What exactly is "Viva Laughlin"? It's not really a musical, although the characters are prone to bursting into song. It's kind of a murder mystery, kind of a family drama, kind of a casino story. It's also (surprise, surprise) a remake of a British show, "Blackpool," which was renamed "Viva Blackpool" when it was shown in the U.S. The lead character, Ripley Holden, is trying to open a casino in Laughlin, Nevada -- if rivals, a murder mystery, and his own family don't get in the way.
The show's not exactly a musical. Characters don't sing original songs that advance the plot of the show. Instead they sing along with "master recordings," so you'll hear star Lloyd Owen singing "Viva, Las Vegas," but you'll mostly hear Elvis dominating the tune. But when noted singer Hugh Jackman, a recurring actor on the show, is singing, you'll hear a lot more Hugh. "Sometimes, we want to highlight the master, and sometimes we want to highlight our actors. And Hugh Jackman knows how to sing a song," said producer Bob Lowry.
Lowry calls the show "a dramatic television show with music," not a musical. This style worked for "Viva Blackpool" and "The Singing Detective," but will it work for this show? Lowry thinks the show has enough going for it that the music will only accent the story, not turn it into infamous TV failure "Cop Rock." He also thinks the songs will tell a part of the story that the lines do not -- for example, in a scene where Melanie Griffith's character makes a romantic move on Owen's character, she sings Blondie's "One Way Or Another."
Says Lowry: "What we learn from that song that what we don't learn through dialogue, it's not a song about flirtation, and it's not a song about, oh, gee, I love you. It's a song about the Melanie Griffith character stating that she's a predator. She's not going to leave him alone. She's going to get him, and that's not stated in dialogue. It's only revealed in music."
TIDBITS:
--"Viva Laughlin" is being held a month longer than most of CBS's new shows. It will be previewed after the Oct. 18 episode of "CSI" and will move to a Sunday-night slot three days later.
--Co-star Madchen Amick is used to casino towns. The "Twin Peaks" star, who plays the wife of Owen's character, grew up in Reno, where her parents fell in love and married. "My father played music in the casinos, and my mom ventured there to get a quick divorce," she said.
--In addition to playing the recurring role of a casino rival of Owen's character, Hugh Jackman is an executive producer of the show.
--Eric Winter, who's played the gay brother of Rob Lowe's character on "Brothers and Sisters," is a regular on "Viva Laughlin." Winter said he'll return to "Brothers and Sisters" for one episode to wrap up his character's plotline, but then is committed to his new show. ""Brothers & Sisters" is a great show, but I'm very excited to be part of this new venture and new opportunity," Winter said.
GAEL'S GRADE: I admit, I didn't take to the musical numbers, but then, I didn't take to "Viva Laughlin's" regular story, either. C.
