REVIEW: NBC’s ‘Rise’ Changes Levittown To Stanton But Still Pleases

The easiest way to describe NBC’s new series “Rise” is “Friday Night Lights” taking in place in a hard-scrabble former steel mill town with an evolving high school theater program.

Sounds a bit like the nationally-recognized theater program at Harry S. Truman High School? If so, that’s because it is based on the Bristol Township high school’s program and the 2013 book “Drama High: The Incredible True Story of a Brilliant Teacher, a Struggling Town, and the Magic of Theater” by Truman alumnus Michael Sokolove.

The new series will kick off Tuesday, March 13 at 10 p.m. before taking the “This Is Us” time slot at 9 p.m. Tuesday the following week. The premier after “This Is Us” shows NBC had confidence in “Rise” and wants to debut the show to a large audience.

LevittownNow.com was granted over the final week of 2017 the opportunity by NBC to preview for the first five episodes of the series that will getting a massive marketing push from the peacock network. More recently, the network released the entire season for review by this new organization.

“Rise” is closer in style to “Friday Night Lights” and stage hit “Hamilton” than FOX’s hit series “Glee” that began with much fanfare and faded as the seasons went forward. The similarities make sense as the new series is from “Friday Night Lights” executive producer Jason Katims and “Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller.

The Pilot (first episode) and following four episodes feature teacher Lou Mazzuchelli, loosely based on the real-life Lou Volpe and portrayed by Josh Radnor, as he works to turn around the high school’s lackluster theater program. Not only is Mazzuchelli turning around the theater department but also the lives of his students as they prepare for their performance.

“This is my chance to get out from behind this desk and make an impact,” Mazzuchelli tells a student in the first episode.

In the Pilot, Mazzuchelli takes over the drama program from settled drama program leader Tracey Wolfe and makes a massive change. He tells the student’s he is scraping Wolfe’s true and tried “Grease” for the much more mature “Spring Awakening.” The change causes some drama of its own and propels the early plot.

The character of Mazzuchelli, or Mr. Mazzu, pairs well with acting veteran Rosie Perez’s Wolfe, his teaching peer.

Become the person you hope to be. ✨

👇 Get your first look at #Rise here. 👇 pic.twitter.com/PiASz4q4Gl

— Rise (@NBCRise) March 5, 2018

The diverse and young cast features breakout star Auli’i Cravalho, who won several awards and gained fame in Disney’s 2016 animated film “Moana.” The cast does a fine job with the heavy lifting of portraying the real-life struggles found in high school.

Cravalho is only 17 and making her debut as a regular in a TV series. She handles the challenge of playing Lilette Suarez with grace and is believable in her role.

The series does a solid job early on at portraying a community similar to Lower Bucks County while extending artistic license. Truman is turned into a very traditional-looking Stanton High School but features the Tigers team name. The town of Stanton looks very different than Bristol Township and Levittown and features a closed steel mill. “Rise” does a fine job showing the different layers of a middle-class community with a blue-collar workforce.

The series, which is filmed in the New York City area, tackles legitimate and real-life issues in an engaging manner without going too heavy on the musical aspect. However, when there are musical portions, they seem natural in the first few episodes and blend with the feel of the series.

One the clichés the show does fall into is the relationship between the high school’s star footballer Robbie Thorne, portrayed by Damon J. Gillespie, and his role in the theater program. Some scenes and comments about the football program seem a bit contrived. Another weak point in early episodes is the stereotypical high school principal.

A musical highlight of the show that stuck out were in the pilot episode as a chorus member performed Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe.”

While the Pilot episode had wonky pacing, the series hits its grove as the episodes progress. The problem with the first episode – a common one – gives viewers a lot of characters and plots to take in on first viewing. A two-hour Pilot would have likely been a better fit.

“Rise” is worth your time and perfects its formula as the 10-episode season moves along.