Peter Pan Live NBC Airing December 2014, Oscar Winner Christopher Walken Cast as Greatest Villain of all Time

 

Peter Pan Live NBC Airing December 2014, Oscar Winner Christopher Walken Cast as Greatest Villain of all Time

Peter Pan Live! is coming to NBC on December 4th and they have announced that Oscar winner and Tony nominee Christopher Walken play the role of villain Captain Hook. 

"I started my career in musicals," the 71-year-old Walken said in a statement, "and it's wonderful after all this time, at this point in my career, to be in this classic musical I watched as a child and to work with Neil Meron and Craig Zadan again after Hairspray. It's a chance to put on my tap shoes again."

"He's one of the most unique actors in our business," NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt told The Hollywood Reporter. "He might really just be a song and dance man at heart... This might be the first tap dancing Captain Hook you've ever seen."

"The exhilarating thing about doing these live musicals is giving the stage to a thrilling performer like Chris, and seeing his once-in-a-lifetime performance unfold at the same moment the audience is watching at home," executive producers Zadan and Meron said.

Greenblatt confirmed that the main role will be played by a woman, as it is traditionally performed at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour. "We were talking about doing it with a man at one point, but we've had several women who wanted to do it and they're either busy or their schedules don't work. It's not like we can film this at any time; I need this person from August 5 to December 5, so that knocks out the Kristen Bells of the world, who was somebody I talked to about doing it and she was interested but she's doing House of Lies," Greenblatt said. "It's tricky finding the right person in the schedule that we need it but we're actually close. [Peter is] going to be female."

Walken worked with executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron on 2007′s movie adaptation of the musical Hairspray with Walken in the role of Wilbur Turnblad.

A Great White Way family classic, Peter Pan premiered on October 20, 1954 at the Winter Garden Theatre, featuring a book by J.M. Barrie, music by Mark "Moose" Charlap and Jule Style, lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins and Mary Martin in the lead role of the boy who won't grow up. NBC has broadcast the musical live a total of three times previously: in 1955 (when it reached 65 million viewers), 1956 and 1960. The musical has been revived five times on Broadway since.

 

 

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