Yay! The older gentleman narrating is Kenny Ortega, the mastermind behind High School Musical, Descendants, Dirty Dancing, Newsies, Hocus Pocus... and probably much more I'm not thinking of offhand. He also choreographed tours for everyone from Michael Jackson and KISS to Cher and Katie Perry. He's a legend in the niche. Madison Reyes was only 14 here, the guys were 19-22. (All +1 during filming back in 2019). They did have to be able to play instruments and sing as well as act to get the roles... but while Maddie was brand new, and the guys had some experience it wasn't a whole lot. Only Jeremy Shada (the 'I don't dance' guy) had experience in an actual band or had ever been in a recording studio. Owen Joyner hadn't played his drums in 5 years and Charlie Gillespie had only ever played acoustic guitar - he learned electric for the role. As for acting, Jeremie is mostly known for voice acting (popularly Adventure Time and Voltron), Owen was a Nickelodeon kid and Charlie'd done some Canadian roles and bit parts (ie. guest star in the first 2 episodes of the Charmed reboot). So, a lot is made of Madison's being completely new, but it was a HUGE deal for all of them. Also, they got seriously close. It's been 3 years since they filmed and they still hang out regularly when they can be in the same place and do livestreams together for fans. Kenny Ortega, Charlie and Owen have matching Julie And The Phantoms inspired tattoos 😂 (Jeremy's woman said "no")
Yay!
The older gentleman narrating is Kenny Ortega, the mastermind behind High School Musical, Descendants, Dirty Dancing, Newsies, Hocus Pocus... and probably much more I'm not thinking of offhand. He also choreographed tours for everyone from Michael Jackson and KISS to Cher and Katie Perry. He's a legend in the niche.
Madison Reyes was only 14 here, the guys were 19-22. (All +1 during filming back in 2019). They did have to be able to play instruments and sing as well as act to get the roles... but while Maddie was brand new, and the guys had some experience it wasn't a whole lot. Only Jeremy Shada (the 'I don't dance' guy) had experience in an actual band or had ever been in a recording studio. Owen Joyner hadn't played his drums in 5 years and Charlie Gillespie had only ever played acoustic guitar - he learned electric for the role. As for acting, Jeremie is mostly known for voice acting (popularly Adventure Time and Voltron), Owen was a Nickelodeon kid and Charlie'd done some Canadian roles and bit parts (ie. guest star in the first 2 episodes of the Charmed reboot).
So, a lot is made of Madison's being completely new, but it was a HUGE deal for all of them.
Also, they got seriously close. It's been 3 years since they filmed and they still hang out regularly when they can be in the same place and do livestreams together for fans. Kenny Ortega, Charlie and Owen have matching Julie And The Phantoms inspired tattoos 😂 (Jeremy's woman said "no")
I love Julie & the Phantoms, I wish they didn’t cancel it🥺