This autumn, the dreams of Glee-like musical theater loving teens will become a reality in the three-hour PBS documentary Broadway or Bust.  The competitive reality show, which will air Sunday nights on PBS from September 9-23 at 8pm, tells the true stories of top musical theater performers at high schools across America.  From a countrywide casting call of some 50,000 ambitious teenagers, the 60 most promising are plucked to travel to New York City for a week-long musical theater boot camp.

The camp is held annually, but this is the first time that its behind-the-scenes drama is captured on tape and broadcast nationwide.  It all leads up to the National High School Musical Theater Awards, an event that puts the students on an actual Broadway stage, performing for a full audience and top industry names serving as judges.  In addition to the opportunity to be seen by important people in the Broadway industry, the event also gives the students a chance to compete for scholarships.

Broadway or Bust will be broadcast in three one-hour segments.  The first focuses on the casting call, the second zeroes in on the intense boot camp experience, and the third installment is about the awards show, which will be held at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre (current home of The Lion King).  Each episode will feature not only the competitive aspect, but also showcase the inspiring individual stories of many of these young would-be Broadway stars.

Learn more about Broadway or Bust by visiting PBS’s dedicated website for it.