In an industry event held last night in Los Angeles, the chairman of NBC revealed their next live musical (after this year’s Hairspray Live!) will be everyone’s favorite Broadway show about Ed Sullivan, telephones, and putting on happy faces: Bye Bye Birdie. But the most exciting part of this news (god, I love this stupid musical) is that Jennifer Lopez will star as Rosie, the “English teacher’s wife.”
In a statement, Lopez said:
“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.”
For those of you unfamiliar with the musical (I’m not much of a Broadway guy, but this one is near and dear to my heart), it’s the story of a small town in the ‘50s that gets thrust into the national spotlight when one of its teen residents wins a contest that gives her the thrilling chance to give an Elvis-like superstar named Conrad Birdie “one last kiss” before he’s sent overseas to fight in the war.
And I can’t wait to see this opening mess on live TV: