Jennifer Lopez STAYS booked.
The singer/actress will star in (and executive produce!) NBC’s live holiday 2017 musical, Bye Bye Birdie.
via THR:
NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt made the announcement Thursday night during a Paley Center panel. “She came to us and said, ‘I love this movie and I’d love to do it,'” the exec revealed during the 45-minute discussion. Asked if she’d do it live, Lopez — who Greenblatt pointed out has a show in Las Vegas where she performs the song “Lot of Livin'” from the musical — responded, “Absolutely.”
“Broadway musicals and films fueled my childhood and Bye Bye Birdie was one of my favorites. I’m proud to be a part of the NBC family with Shades of Blue and I thought it would be a blast to take on one of their big live musicals,” Lopez said in a statement.
The singer-actress-producer will star as Rosie and executive produce the Universal Television live musical alongside Nuyorican Productions’ Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and her manager, Benny Medina. Also set to exec produce are NBC’s live musical masterminds Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Hairspray, The Wiz, Peter Pan, The Sound of Music). The production will be written by Harvey Fierstein, who also wrote and will costar in the network’s upcoming holiday live musical Hairspray.
NBC’s Bye Bye Birdie Live will be based on the 1960 Tony-winning Broadway musical that starred Dick Van Dyke as Albert Peterson and Chita Rivera as Rosie. The book was written by Michael Stewart with lyrics by Lee Adams and music by Charles Strouse. Van Dyke took home a Tony for the role, while Rivera scored a nomination. The play was adapted into a 1963 Golden Globe-nominated feature film starring Van Dyke and Janet Leigh as Rosie. The film helped propel Ann-Margret, who played Kim MacAfee, to stardom.
Set at the height of rock ‘n’ roll, Bye Bye Birdie takes place in Sweet Apple, Ohio, where hip-thrusting music heartthrob Conrad Birdie is scheduled to give a lucky Sweet Apple lady “One Last Kiss” before being drafted into the Army. Conrad’s rock ‘n’ roll ways send the small town reeling, giving the teens Birdie fever, shocking the parents with moral indignation and placing songwriter-agent Albert Peterson along with his savvy sweetheart, Rosie, right in the thick of things. The story was inspired by Elvis Presley and his induction into the Army in 1957.
“To have a superstar like Jennifer Lopez starring in this classic show, which every high school in America has done, will ensure that our holiday musicals continue to be must-see events for the whole family,” added Greenblatt. “It was her idea to take on this classic singing and dancing role made famous by the legendary Chita Rivera, and we are so happy to oblige! This show has delighted audiences for generations with classic songs that include ‘Put on a Happy Face’ and ‘A Lot of Livin’ to Do,’ and this will be an extravagant production built around this big star.”
The live production extends NBC and Universal Television’s relationship with Lopez. She currently has a residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas where she performs 40 shows a year. Lopez also stars in NBC’s Shades of Blue, with its second season due in 2017. She also will exec produce and serve as a judge on NBC’s UTV reality competition series World of Dance. Lopez, who has a development deal with UTV, is readying futuristic bio-terror drama C.R.I.S.P.R. for NBC and has an untitled legal drama set up at CBS. She next will play drug lord Griselda Blanco in an HBO TV movie.
Get it, J. Lo!
