Glee fans, theater nerds, and Stephen King readers alike are on the edges of their seats in anticipation for the Riverdale cast singing in the musical episode. Beginning at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Riverdale High students will take the stage in the appropriately spooky production of "Carrie: The Musical" — the tale of an estranged young girl with telekinetic powers who has a toxic relationship with her radically religious mother. In addition to such a dramatic plot line, unlike previous episodes, Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) and the Pussycats won’t be the only characters to break out in song.
According to Entertainment Weekly, The CW revealed the news of the upcoming show with an adorably characterized faux press release from the Riverdale High Drama Department, cast list included — so fans know who they can expect to step up to the mic. Although many of the actors who portray the characters in lead roles for "Carrie" (read: Madelaine Petsch, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, and more) don’t necessarily have established music careers — they’re no strangers to a little Do, Re, Mi.
As a preview of the voices you’ll be hearing in the episode, here are some clips of the singers at work.
KJ Apa
Archie Andrews, played by KJ Apa, is occasionally seen with a guitar hanging around his neck on Riverdale, and thanks to some mentorship from a former Riverdale high music teacher and Josie of the Pussycats, he has become quite the singer. Hopefully he's comfortable swapping his guitar for some choreography, and possibly even some fake blood.
Madelaine Petsch
Little record of Petsch’s (Cheryl Blossom) singing voice is out there, so viewers may be in for a pleasant surprise being she’s cast as Carrie White herself. They do know, however, that she was good enough to join Josie and the Pussycats via their ballad-style performance of Kelis’ “Milkshake” in the second episode of the season — and who didn’t enjoy that?
Lili Reinhart
Anyone who follows the Riverdale cast on social media knows that Reinhart and her cast mates, especially Camila Mendes, love a good Instagram or Snapchat singalong, however, many may not know Reinhart's voice is this good. She did jump in on the Season 1 soundtrack's cover of "Mad World" with Mendes and Apa, so maybe her talent shouldn't come as a surprise after all. Reinhart's character, Betty Cooper, will be taking the stage alongside her fiery mother, Alice (Mädchen Amick). Here's to hoping their engagement in the music transcends their rickety relationship.
Camila Mendes
Along with the aforementioned Tears for Fears cover, Mendes recently teamed up with another fellow Bulldog to create music. She and Asha Bromfield, who plays Melody Valentine of the Pussycats, absolutely killed this cover of SZA's "The Weekend."
She also once showed off her singing skills on Instagram with her good friend Rachel Lynn Matthews, and the internet was all for it, giving it over 4 million views.
Vanessa Morgan
As if Morgan's portrayal of Toni Topaz and her potential romantic relationship with Cheryl isn't exciting enough, in this episode, Toni will be making her musical theatre debut. A quick Google search of "Vanessa Morgan singing" elicits quite the queue of grainy, self-shot cover videos, so it's obvious she's always had a voice.
Earlier this year, she released a single called "Be My Joker," in which she tickles the ivory keys and passionately owns the original ballad. The Riverdale High Drama Department is lucky to have her.
Shannon Purser
OK, so it's no secret that Purser (Ethel Muggs) can sing like an angel thanks to the Twitter clip she posted in October of last year. She recorded the video, headphones in, prior to taking a midday nap. If this is what she sounds like groggy and tired, who knows what kind of voice she'll bring to Ethel. Something tells me it's going to blow everyone away.
Casey Cott
Although Casey Cott's character, Kevin Keller, is student directing the musical alongside Fangs Fogarty (Drew Ray Tanner), there's a chance he might need to let out a few notes to show the cast how it's done. Good news, he can sing IRL. And he knows how to charm a crowd, so the director's chair will fit him well.
The hopes are high for this episode, and rightfully so. The only thing that could take them higher is if Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) was expected to solo, but it has been confirmed that's not the case.
"He’s doing something we think is quintessentially Jughead during the musical. Except he doesn’t sing," Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told Dana Schwartz in an interview for Entertainment Weekly.
Sprouse wasn't up for singing in his Disney days, and it doesn't look like the Riverdale High Drama Department will be the only exception. But, the rest of his cast will be taking the stage and belting their hearts out — so there will be plenty to watch and listen to in the musical episode.
