A small-screen adaptation of the classic rock musical and a live musical based on the Christmas comedy film and the Broadway play are coming to FOX.
- May 13, 2017
AceShowbiz - FOX has set not just one, but two next live productions to follow up "Grease Live". The network has announced that it will bring classic "Rent" and Christmas comedy film "A Christmas Story" to the small screen.
Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Rent" was created by Jonathan Larson, who died suddenly before it opened Off-Broadway in 1996 and before "Rent" moved to Broadway. The Tony-winning musical is loosely based on "La Boheme" and tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in New York City's East Village in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
Larson's estate will executive produce FOX's "Rent (2017)" alongside Marc Platt ("La La Land", "Wicked", "Grease Live"). Platt is also on board NBC's newly announced "Jesus Christ Superstar".
" 'Rent' was Jonathan's dream of sharing the theater and the passion he had for it with a whole new generation," says Julie and Al Larson. "None of us could have imagined the massive impact that the messages and themes in Rent would have on the theater community or the world ... except for Jonathan. We are absolutely thrilled to be continuing Jonathan's legacy and the still-relevant themes of the show in this way."
"A Christmas Story" is a 1983 Christmas comedy film about a Midwestern boy named Ralphie who wants nothing more than a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. It was first brought to Broadway stage in 2012. The upcoming three-hour live musical will air in December.
Platt will executive produce the special with Adam Siegel. Jonathan Tolins and Robert Cary serve as executive producers and writers, while Tony Award nominees and Academy Award winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul will compose several new songs for the live television event.
" 'A Christmas Story' is one of the most beloved holiday films of all time-audiences have made a yearly ritual of re-watching it-and we are so thrilled to have Marc leading the charge in bringing the musical version of that film to television," David Madden, president of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Company, says in a statement. "The extraordinarily gifted Pasek and Paul were instrumental in transposing the movie to the stage, and we believe the transition to live television event will be just as entertaining for viewers."
