Disney Channel debuted its latest original movie August 10 with a TV musical adaptation of Freaky Friday, starring Broadway’s Heidi Blickenstaff and Liv & Maddie's Cozi Zuehlsdorff. The musical adaptation of Freaky Friday began as a project from Disney Theatrical Group; but as the stage version was in progress with book writer Bridget Carpenter and the Pulitzer and Tony-winning songwriting team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal, If/Then), the Disney Channel became interested in condensing the stage version for their next television movie.
Zuehlsdorff, who plays daughter Ellie in the mother-daughter switch-up story, co-wrote the song for the opening credits “What It’s Like to Be Me”—the only song of the film not written by Kitt and Yorkey.
The musical then opens with “Just One Day,” as we meet Ellie and her mom Katherine. Ellie is nervous about making a name for herself in high school by winning The Hunt, the annual scavenger hunt organized by the classmate she has a crush on. Meanwhile, Katherine is getting ready for her wedding—which doubles as the launch of her catering business. Take a look:
Ellie and Katherine don’t see eye to eye, but are forced to walk in the other’s shoes after a magic hourglass (a gift to Ellie from her late father) causes them to switch bodies in “The Switch”:
But it’s not all empathetic realizations right off the bat. In fact, Ellie and Katherine are so convinced that the other’s life is easy, they each brag about how they can handle a day in the life of the other in “I Got This”:
Things aren’t going smoothly and Ellie (trapped in her mom’s body) realizes that despite Katherine’s assurances that everything will turn out fine, “Parents Lie”:
Having broken the original hourglass after their switch, the duo need to find the companion hourglass of the pair. Katherine (trapped in her daughter’s body) is trying to find it by winning The Hunt, since the hourglass is on the list of objects to procure. Here, Adam (played by Ricky He), pumps everyone up for the late-night search in “Go”:
Ellie and Katherine manage to get their hands on the new magic hourglass and try to switch back in “False Switchback/Today & Ev’ry Day”:
