Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post. This is coverage from an all expense paid trip from Disney/ABC to cover movies/shows as press. ALL opinions are my own. YES, I loved the show & Joshua Sasse!
Joshua Sasse & Glenn Slater on a Video Conference Photobombing. Photo Credit: 7onAShoestring.com
What is Galavant?
Galavant is the newest ABC Musical TV Series that is sure to knock you off of your feet laughing! What we should really be asking is “WHO is Galavant?” It includes a new HOTTIE by the name of Joshua Sasse! Joshua has dark hair, a chiseled chin, and an English accent. Go ahead and start swooning because once he has you laughing so hard you are definitely going to fall in love (yep even if you are married like me!) Oh did I mention, he can sing too! ONLY, if he wasn’t so young ;)!
Joshua plays Galavant in this upcoming ABC TV Musical Series! How have I not seen him on TV before? I know he has been in several TV shows, but his name hadn’t triggered any memories for me until I searched him on IMDB. Now I am just waiting on the HOT memes of the new rising star, Joshua Sasse! Ladies, this show is funny and your husbands are going to love it! You are also going to love it but you are REALLY going to enjoy the eye candy! Joshua Sasse has done musicals in England. Sasse said he got conned in to this show. He said he would take the part and then they said, “by the way it is a musical”. Luckily Joshua tells us, “I have a great team to work with that make sure I don’t fall on my feet.”
Photo Credit: 7onAShoestring.com
Galavant is about a former hero who is trying to reclaim his reputation (which as you can tell needs some revamping after watching the pilot) by going after King Richard (played by former Psych star, Omundson) who store his girl! The story is funny and definitely gets flip flopped around!
Dan Fogelman (Executive Producer) explains the show for an audience who would love “Monty Python, Princess Bride, or Game of Thrones!” Honestly, it had me laughing so hard! It was a GREAT pilot! I even had the opportunity to view a rough cut of the episode “Joust Friends” with John Stamos! I didn’t get to see much of it, just a few minutes it was a rough cut and I really can’t wait to see it all put together!
So back in November, I was able to experience and watch the pilot and then I got to sit in front and interview Dan Fogelman, Joshua Sasse (handsome rising star), Alan Menken (Composer/video conference), and Glenn Slater (Lyricist/video conference). It was really wild! I was at a conference table with other bloggers, and Dan walks in (who I once met from “The Neighbors”), and then Joshua walks in (right after we fell in love with him from watching the Pilot). I am sure the expressions and smiles on our face were priceless, because the energy in the room was hopping!
So Joshua isn’t the ONLY hot star in this show, you are going to see tons of HUGE names and they are all singing and some in tights! The four gentlemen were awesome, we barely had to ask any questions since they just went ahead and shared the details with us as before we even had to ask very many questions! I did find out, from Fogelman that beside John Stamos, “Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Ricky Gervais, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and…” others will also make guest appearances in the other episodes! Also, were you a Psych fan? If so, you might remember Carlton Lassiter who is played by Timothy Omundson! I didn’t even recognize him! From Psych to Galavant, I was able to see a huge range of acting from Omundson, which shows and proves some true talent! He plays King Richard in Galavant and will be in each episode! Plus, if you were a Young & Hungry fan from ABC Family, you will recognize Mallory Jansen!
Galavant: What comes first the Music or the Script?
Alan Menken making the music happen! Photo Credit: (ABC/Ida Astute)
We found out some really fun facts about Galavant. Alan and Glenn have written OVER 30 songs together in these 8 episodes! They wrote a bunch that they had to throw out. The Pilot had the least amount of music. We also found out that they collaborate first with the writers and then they map out all the episodes, then the song moments. After that they revisited them and then created the music (usually first) and then the script. Then they all come together again and Alan said, “Then we cut it in half. Dan says it is too long, and we cut it in half.” This created quite the chuckle from everyone. Glenn talked about how, because of the writers, the process was a “well oiled machine”.
It is amazing I heard a word that Joshua was saying in the interview (because I was swooning a bit) 😉 but he talked about how amazing it was to work with Alan and the others. He did mention how he read the songs as script first before he even heard them. I thought this process is interesting on an acting standpoint since all of the songs really have to tell a story as a musical would.
Galavant: Where did this whole concept come from?
Dan: We did Tangled and I was working on this whole Princess Bride type idea and I have done another show a couple of years ago the last two years, it is called “The Neighbors”. Alan (Menken) came with Glenn (Slater) and we did a little musical episode and Alan got an Emmy nomination for it. It was this show that didn’t get a ton of attention and we really liked it Alan came in and we got this attention. While we were working on that I had this script and I thought hey maybe we can turn this in to a musical. Alan wrote the original song.
Alan: Alan and Glenn TOGETHER!
Dan Fogelman during the Interview. Photo Credit: 7onAShoestring.com
Is Galavant Kid Friendly?
“We try to make adult jokes that kids wouldn’t understand,” mentions Fogelman. They took some of the parts out where the jokes don’t push it TOO far. That way the line becomes more distinct for the parents but will go over the kids’ heads. Anyone who works on the show with kids, the kids are all singing the songs already. When Ricky Gervais comes into one of the episodes he plays a magician called “Xanax” so there are some references on “Xanax can really help you”, etc…This joke will go over the kids’ heads but parents will catch on to it.
Watch Galavant on Sunday’s at 7pm CST on ABC! TONIGHT you will have TWO episodes airing! I was able to preview both and lets just say I AM SO EXCITED to pop some popcorn and watch them again with my hubby!
KAREN DAVID, JOSHUA SASSE, DAN FOGELMAN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER), LUKE YOUNGBLOOD, JOHN STAMOS, KAREN DAVID
Photo Credit: (ABC/Nick Ray)