Nickelodeon Plans 'Spectacular!' Presidents' Day

By Hanh Nguyen, Zap2It.com | January 9, 2009

Nolan Gerard Funk and Tammin Sursok, 'Spectacular!'

New high school-set musical will feature 10 original songs and two covers

Kids going through "High School Musical" withdrawal can check out a different musical also set in high school on Presidents' Day.

Nickelodeon will premiere its original TV movie "Spectacular!" on Presidents' Day (Feb. 16) at 8 pm ET/PT. Nothing says patriotism and honoring our forefathers like doing jazz hands by our lockers.

"Spectacular!" stars scruffy-haired Nikko (Nolan Gerard Funk), who's hit the skids after he's been kicked out of his band and then summarily dumped by his girlfriend. What's a teenage rebel to do with all this passion and edgy creativity? Why, join show choir of course! Nikko gets pulled into the musical group Spectacular, led by preppy Courtney (Tammin Sursok) and mentored by the absent-minded Mr. Romano ( Greg Germann).

Naturally, the two musical worlds collide, causing both sides to eventually learn from each other in time to take a stand against rival group Ta-Da, headed by Spectacular defectee Royce (Simon Curtis), at a national musical championship.

"'Spectacular!' is a riveting story with heart, great music and tons of tween appeal," says Nickelodeon's exec VP of development and original programming, Marjorie Cohn. "It's uniquely Nickelodeon because it stays true to our tradition of great characters driving the story, but the edgy music gives it a contemporary twist."

"Spectacular!" features 10 original songs composed by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil. Gerrard has written hits for the likes of Hilary Duff, Kelly Clarkson and and "HSM," while Nevil's credits also include songs for "HSM," the, "Hannah Montana" and the '80s dance hit "C'est La Vie."

Madonna and Britney Spears choreographer R.J. Durell created the dance numbers.