Posted in: Movies, TV | Tagged: 20th Century Fox Television, a christmas story, broadway, cleveland, fox, la la land, live musical, pink bunny suit, ralphie, red ryder bb gun, the land
Fox Is Bringing Us A Christmas Story Musical Live In December And They Better Not Screw It Up
Growing up and living here in Cleveland, A Christmas Story holds a special place in our hearts. It was filmed here, and the house has even been turned into a museum. Its cult film status has been solidified over the years, but it has always felt like MY movie. It does not help that when I was a kid I was a dead ringer for Ralphie, and got teased for it. Since it came out, it gets a 24 hour marathon on Christmas every year on TBS, and a Broadway musical. Now, that musical is coming to your television.
After a string of live musicals taking over the networks these last couple years, Variety is reporting that A Christmas Story will become a live musical special on Fox this December, naturally. Marc Platt and Adam Siegel will produce with Jonathan Tolins and Robert Cary co-producing and writing. Since Platt had a hand in the Fox production of Grease Live, they should be in capable hands. The real story here is who is writing the music. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote the original music for the A Christmas Story musical, and will be returning and composing new songs for the Fox special. The duo is fresh off writing the lyrics for "City of Stars" from La La Land as well. Fox had the following to say:
"'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," said David Madden, president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company. "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."