The Jonas Brothers new series
JONAS on the Disney Channel stars Kevin, Joe and Nick
Music sensations the Jonas Brothers have a new series (May 2 premier) on the Disney Channel. Simply called JONAS, it’s a super-charming comedy that has Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas playing the fictional Lucas Brothers who are rock and roll superstars trying to deal with the pressure of the business.
Unpredictable and often absurd situations are created as they try to live ordinary lives, just like the Jonas boys.
In the real world, Kevin says the crazy, stressed out situations that their TV characters go through for big laughs on the half-hour show, are not too much a part of the life he leads. “We have an amazing team around us. We’re just like normal guys. We like to hang out with friends. We go shopping. We go see movies. But we just work a lot at the same time, but we love it.”
The show combines two main ingredients for a successful Disney show– music and comedy, not to mention great stars. “Our cast is incredible,” Kevin says, giving credit to costars Chelsea Staub (Minutemen), Nicole Anderson (Hannah Montana), John Ducey (Will and Grace), and Rebecca Creskoff (Mad Men).
Joe reveals, “Going into it, we were pretty nervous. We weren’t sure how we would do. We did Camp Rock (the Disney Channel TV movie), but doing a television series, we didn’t know exactly how it would roll out. It’s been a lot of fun. And it’s just a great opportunity so far.”
The famous brothers are happy that their little brother Frankie will also be featured on the show. “It’s cool for him. We didn’t know how he would do, and he’s been surprising us every day with how well he does.”
Word on the set is that eight-year-old Frankie is known as “the bonus Jonas.”
Of course, fans know that all the Jonas boys started young. Nick and Joe were on Broadway before they ever created their family band with Kevin. Nick says, “Joe and I were on Broadway. I can remember being in Annie Get Your Gun, and I forgot my cue to go onstage.” Nick recalls the star of the musical, Reba McEntire took it in stride and told him “That’s why they call it live.”
The Jonas Brothers will continue to do live concerts when they can, because that’s still part of living their dreams.
Joe says, “We’re so used to doing music, that this gives us a great opportunity to have acting and music involved. It’s an easy transition for us because we’re natural musicians. But acting is something that’s totally different for us.”
They will still be recording too. “I think we found a real home with Hollywood Records and our partnership with Disney. It just feels right. And we’re having a great time with everything,” reports Nick.
The JONAS main title theme song is “Live to Party,” written and recorded by the Jonas Brothers. The episodes will also features original Jonas Brothers songs created especially for the show. That’s something else that Nick loves about the experience. “Writing songs for the show has been a really cool experience because they’ll give us kind of like an outline of what they need for the episode,” Nick explains. “And we’ve been joking now that we don’t have to get our hearts broken to write a song about heartbreak It’s a lot easier way to do it.”
Joe says, “it’s really cool because when we co-wrote with Demi (Lavato from Camp Rock) on her record, it was a different kind of feel because we had to think from a girl’s perspective. And that was the first time we ever had to do that.”
Joe thinks it’s great to have the opportunity to have the creative team behind the show tell him they need a song “about a situation that you like this person, but you kind of feel sick about it. So they’ll get us to really think about it and come up with a song. It’s great to keep us involved in that aspect. And it’s been a lot of fun.”
Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channels Worldwide, says, “The true test of artists is their willingness to stretch creatively, to tackle new challenges. The Jonas Brothers, already established as music superstars, have don just that with JONAS, by stretching beyond their established comfort zone into the world of television comedy. And what makes them great performers on the stage, their talent for relating to and connecting with their audience, serves them perfectly as comedic actors.”
That’s just how they roll.
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