Lifetime TV to feature several touring Broadway shows

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lifetime TV's "The Balancing Act" will feature several touring Broadway shows this summer, including behind-the-curtain peeks on "Kinky Boots," "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella," "If/Then" and "Cabaret."

The shows will be included in a six-part "Broadway Balances America" series led by correspondent Amber Milt that offers viewers a look at the cast and crew who make the tours possible. "The Balancing Act" airs at 7:30 a.m. every weekday and reaches some 750,000 viewers each week.

The theater episodes, geared toward the same women who buy tickets, will start airing in August and also include productions of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Rodgers + Hammerstein's The Sound of Music."

The series, sponsored by Broadway Across America, is the second time "The Balancing Act" has taken interest in Broadway shows. Last year, the focus was on "Newsies," "Pippin," "Annie," "Motown" and "Dirty Dancing."

"The media is pretty fragmented now and it's really hard to get peoples' attention. There are many, many outlets and we see television - and particularly this kind of audience - as just one more opportunity to get our message out," said Lauren Reid, CEO of Broadway Across America's theater division. "We've got to reach more people so every opportunity we've got to seize."

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