Caffeinated Clint
A true sequel (hope that didn’t sting too much, “Center Stage : Turn it Up”) to dance ‘classic’ “Center Stage” (2000) is headed to…. a TV screen near you.
Reuniting much of the cast of the Bush-era’s pop-tune infused love letter to performing arts, “Center Stage : On Pointe” airs on Lifetime on June 25. The film sees the return of Peter Gallagher’s American Ballet Academy boss Jonathan Reeves, Sascha Radetsky’s Charlie (now a choreographer), and Ethan Stiefel as hot-shot Cooper Nielson. No sign of Amanda Schull, who played Jody in the original, but likely that’s more to do with her commitment to SyFy’s “12 Monkeys” series and less to do with the fact that, well, she also saw the first sequel.
The film isn’t skipping over the events of the last sequel; back from it are Kenny Wormald and Nicole Munoz as Tommy Anderson and Bella Parker, respectively.
Rachel Brooke Smith, Maude Green, Thomas L.Colford, Chloe Lukasiak, Tara Wilson, Kyra Legend and Lanie McAuley co-star.
A promo for the film premiered during an episode of “Dance Moms” on the network tonight (via EW).
Here’s the official synopsis :
Jonathan Reeves (Gallagher) is tasked with infusing more contemporary styles and modernism into the American Ballet Academy and enlists his top choreographers Charlie (Radestsky), Cooper (Stiefel) and Tommy (Wormald) to recruit dancers to compete at an intensive camp where the winners will be selected to join the Academy. Bella Parker (Munoz), who has always lived in the shadow of her hugely successful sister Kate, finally gets her chance to step into the limelight as one of the dancers selected for the camp. Lukasiak stars as Gwen, a talented dancer prodigy who competes at the camp.
