‘A Christmas Story’ Live Musical Set at Fox

From: Variety

“A Christmas Story” will be the subject of a live musical at Fox, Variety has learned.

The production, which will air this December, will be based on the Broadway musical version of the beloved film of the same name, about a Midwestern boy named Ralphie who wants nothing more than a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. The film has achieved cult status since its release in 1983, with TBS annually airing a 24-hour marathon of the film during the holiday season.

Marc Platt, who previously collaborated with Fox on “Grease: Live,” will executive produce along with Adam Siegel, with Jonathan Tolins and Robert Cary co-executive producing and writing. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, recent Tony Award nominees for the musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” and lyricists of “La La Land’s” Academy Award-winning song, “City of Stars,” also scored “A Christmas Story: The Musical,” and will compose several new songs for the live television event. It will be produced by Warner Horizon Unscripted Television.

“‘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.”

“A Christmas Story: The Musical” was nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score (Pasek and Paul) and Best Book of a Musical. The original Broadway production of “A Christmas Story: The Musical” opened Nov. 19, 2012. The film “A Christmas Story” was written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark, based on the novel “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash” by Shepherd.

Live musicals have proven incredibly popular on broadcast over the past few years. Fox’s production of “Grease: Live” in February 2016 received widespread acclaim in addition to excellent ratings.  NBC also recently announced that they will produce a live version of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which comes on the heels of successes like “The Sound of Music” and “The Wiz.”