Airdate: Angels in New York

Now here’s a subject that rarely gets an airing on the box… taking an Australian musical and trying to put it on Broadway.

This four part series follows two university graduates as they try to take their own musical to the US. There are auditions in LA, an investors pitch, a press conference at the Russian Tea room in New York City, visiting  The Drama Desk Awards presentation in New York and more.

Two young Aussie rookie producers attempt the seemingly impossible: to take an unknown musical straight to Broadway!

Write a musical and get it on Broadway – maybe in your dreams. But for Marcus and Ken, unknown Aussie natives it’s a whole new reality.

Set in New York, New Orleans, LA and Sydney, Angels in New York the four-part series premiering on SBS ONE in Secrets & Lives on Thursday 18 February at 8.30pm, follows the journey of two rookie Australian producers who dream of taking their unknown musical straight to Broadway. Meet Marcus Cheong, a graduate Architect, and Ken Lai, an aeronautical engineer, who have dedicated four years to writing the book, music and lyrics for “Angels: The Musical”, heavily influenced by Star Wars, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings and the flying excitement of Cirque de Soleil. Studying by day and producing musicals for university by night is one thing, but Broadway is another world away!

A David and Goliath story unfolds about Ken and Marcus’s determination to live their dream, and conquer the unpredictable Broadway beast, using guide books purchased from Amazon.com. Their Aussie charm starts to open some doors, a well- known Broadway producer lends a hand, and the Broadway community curiously ponders… “Could they be the next Andrew Lloyd Webber?” But how good is their musical really?

Angels in New York follows the struggle, determination, magic and talent of the Aussie duo, their larrikin director Richard Fowler, and colourful Broadway producer Bob Blume, as they navigate the Broadway machine which is fast, uncertain, and constantly changing direction.

From casting, to designing sets, marketing and rehearsals, to opening night, these lads soon find themselves caught up in the ride of a lifetime to tell an epic story about “the ancient war between the Angels and Lucifer’s fallen minions”.

This ob-doc is character driven, and features an up-close and personal roller coaster insight into the lives of three Aussie boys who had a dream to produce Broadway’s next hit, and what happened along the way.

Part one of Angels in New York airs Thursday 18 February at 8.30pm on SBS ONE.