The new Netflix teen series “Julie And The Phantoms” is based on a Brazilian series by the name of “Julie e os Fantasmas“. While in the original plot the ghostly musicians needed to wear animal masks to be seen by the public, in the remake they only need to be on stage with Julie to become visible. It premiered worldwide on September 10, at 4AM in Brazil, containing 9 episodes of 30 minutes each.
The show has everything that young people are looking for: a light story, with lots of music and it works on important issues such as friendship, grief and self-acceptance. In the plot, Julie (Madison Reyes) is a teenager in love with music but who ends up losing the connection and the will to sing after the death of her mother, her great inspiration. However, the encounter with three ghosts: Luke, Reggie and Alex, who had been dead for 25 years, will cause the young girl to once again find her passion for music and show her talent to the world. What she doesn’t know is that they have a great connection to her family. While Julie is discovering her true talent, the ghosts search for what their unfinished business is on Earth. You know that story to make you forget your troubles? The show is the perfect entertainment that will make you disconnect and enjoy.
And the series has production from none other than Kenny Ortega, who was responsible for the musical/drama franchises: High School Musical and Descendants.
Julie and the Phantoms has an impressive young cast including Madison Reyes as the lead character Julie, Charlie Gillespie (Charmed) as Luke, Jeremy Shada (Adventure Time) as Reggie, Owen Patrick Joyner (100 Things to Do Before High School) as Alex, Booboo Stewart (Descendants) as Willie, Cheyenne Jackson (Descendants) as Caleb, Jadah Marie (Descendants) as Flynn, Savannah Lee May as Carrie, Sacha Carlson as Nick, Carlos Ponce as Ray and Sony Bustamante as Carlos.
Something to talk about was Madison Reyes’ performance. Newcomer to Hollywood, with her first role being in Julie and the Phantoms, the actress shows all her talent as a protagonist. At only 16, Madison shows us that she can not only act but also dance and sing. She comes to thrill, especially in the first episode, singing Wake Up. Surely everyone will fall in love with this young woman who has everything to shine in this world.
We can’t help but talk about the acting and character development of Owen Patrick Joyner on the show. The actor plays the drummer, Alex, who is openly gay and ends up getting closer to Willie, another ghost, played by Booboo Stewart, who is on Earth where he teaches Alex what it’s like to be a ghost. The pair’s connection is not only respected but celebrated, resulting in the kind of refreshingly positive representation of a same-sex relationship that you don’t often see in programming targeted at a younger audience.
One of the highlights of the series is the music. The soundtrack features 15 original songs, whose titles name the episodes. The songs were so loved by the public that the album was at #1 on iTunes, and several other songs such as Perfect Harmony, Unsaid Emily and Wake Up were on top of the Charts. And in less than a month from its debut, ten of the songs have surpassed more than 1 MILLION streams on Spotify and is, definitely, a must listen!
Now speaking of a particular song, Perfect Harmony, was written by none other than Charlie Gillespie (Luke) and Madison Reyes (Julie), where they had the chance to write it with Kenny Ortega’s permission in the breaks of filming and then showed the song to Netflix, who loved it and decided to put it in the show.
—————————-
The article above was edited by Anna Bastos.
Liked this type of content? Check Her Campus Casper Libero home page for more!