Here's How Schmigadoon! Season 2 Will Incorporate Darker And More Complicated Musicals

At its core, the first season of "Schmigadoon!" on Apple TV+ is about two people that are trying to navigate the complex topics of love and relationships. But on the surface, as these characters are trapped in a town that won't let the leave until they find true love, the series starring Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key is a love letter to the Golden Age of musicals, which featured stories that often were light, bright, and shiny. However, for the show's second season, this couple is moving from the romance of the 1940s and 1950s to the darker and grittier aura of musical theater from the 1960s and 1970s.

During the Television Critics Association's winter press tour, /Film's Vanessa Armstrong was able to attend the panel featuring Key, his co-star Dove Cameron, and co-creator/songwriter/showrunner Cinco Paul where they discussed how their show would make that transition into a separate subgenre of musicals and pay tribute to critically acclaimed and fan favorite shows such as "Cabaret," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Sweeney Todd," and (naturally, since the city Josh and Melissa find themselves in is called "Schmicago") "Chicago."

Going from the breezy, cheery vibe seen in classics like "The Music Man" or "Oklahoma" to more grounded, trauma-heavy stories like "Sweeney Todd" and "Jesus Christ Superstar" is quite the shift for the musical series produced by Lorne Michaels. In the panel, after Key shared that "the characters in this season of the show are so layered and have more complication to them," Paul described the process he went through to create the music for the new season that reflected the new era of musicals and the new status quo for their show:

"As a composer, it was really interesting how the sound of Rodgers and Hammerstein's era was pretty similar. All the songs sound the same. But here, the musical split into so many different [genres]. There's so much variety in this era. Musicals just exploded [...]

This season, just like the first season, is kind of a mix. Some songs are very specific, like the opening number is 'Magic To Do' from 'Pippin.' It usually evolves as I get deeper in the season. I start to feel more original in a way [...] Instead of a show about people trapped in a musical, it becomes a genuine musical. While there's always a target, things became a little more 'I'm just gonna try to write something evocative of this show or the era.' It was really exciting for me."

But before he gets to that point, Paul shared that in order to get familiar with the shows that inspired the second season, he would play the scores from front to back in order to "get them in my bones and get an idea of what are the tendencies harmonically, musically, and lyrically." Although, due to his familiarity with the material, it was essentially a quick review.

In addition to all the new musicals at their disposal to draw inspiration from, "Schmigadoon!" season 2 also has an impressive pool of talent that makes up their cast. In addition to returning players like Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Tveit, and Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess (who appeared in "The Little Mermaid" and "Guys and Dolls") and Patrick Page (who has extensive bad guy cred after playing the Green Goblin, the Grinch, and Hades on Broadway) are joining the ensemble. Plus, after taking the world by storm in Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story," Ariana DeBose returns to play the show's version of the Kit Kat Klub's Emcee, a role that was famously inhabited by actors like Joel Grey and Alan Cumming. With all these new people to get excited about, Paul touched on a few details about their roles in the upcoming season:

"If you want to do a hilarious version of the leading player from 'Pippin,' it's Tituss [Burgess]. Nobody else. And then Patrick is great because we have a real, true villain. Mildred Layton was more of a comedic villain in the first season, but if you want somebody to play the big bad villain, no one does it better than Patrick Page.

[And ] I told Ariana [DeBose] during season 1, 'Here's what I think we should do in season 2: I would really like you to be the Emcee.' Her eyes lit up. Of course, Ariana has become a big deal [...] but she so wanted to do the show. I don't know if she talked to Alan about it, but she came up with something that's very much her own gender bending thing, which is really fun."

The second season of "Schmigadoon!" debuts its first two episodes on April 7, 2023 on Apple TV+.