'The Duck Commander Family Musical' will feature 14 songs and premiere February 2015 at Rio hotel and casino in the Sin City.
- Nov 14, 2014
AceShowbiz - "Duck Dynasty" is getting a Las Vegas treatment. The A&E series about the Robertson family of duck hunters is turned into a musical for February 2015 debut at Rio hotel and casino in the Sin City. It will depict the family's rise to fame based on Willie and Korie Robertson's 2012 book "The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family, and Ducks Built a Dynasty".
The show gets resistance from Broadway which has a large LGBT community due to the family patriarch Phil Robertson's previous comparison between homosexuality and bestiality. "It's pretty disgusting, but it's also a reminder that Broadway is mostly about making entertainment today - not art - even if it means getting involved with a family whose members say things that offend a lot of people working on Broadway," producer Emanuel Azenberg told New York Times.
The 90-minute play dubbed "The Duck Commander Family Musical" is directed by Jeff Calhoun who is gay. "We've agreed to disagree on some things, but we're family and we love and respect each other," the director said of the Robertson's view of traditional marriage. "I like to think that this musical could bridge some gaps, too."
"The show will end up challenging the views and assumptions of people across the political spectrum, more than most theater does," producer Michael David ("Jersey Boys") teased what to expect. "The Robertsons are so unusual, their story so juicy, and theater shouldn't be limited to telling stories about people you resemble or revere."
Asa Somers serves as the book writer, while Steven Morris, Robert Morris and Joe Shane are composing the soundtrack. It "is expected to feature video of the real Robertsons and duck hunting, interspersed among family anecdotes and a 14-song score that mixes country, blues and show tunes." Morris said, "I think the expectation is that it'll be all chicken-pickin' stuff and banjos. But what we're trying to do is pull out as much heart, humor, and sincerity as we can to keep people surprised."
Duck Commander CEO, Willie Robertson, gushed, "We've enjoyed the process of making a musical alongside the team who is interested in telling the Robertson family story from an outside perspective."
