News and Press Releases

April 15, 2019

Patsy & Loretta first look: See Megan Hilty and Jessie Mueller as the country legends in upcoming Lifetime movie

In honor of Loretta Lynn’s 87th birthday, EW is sharing the first image from the upcoming Lifetime movie Patsy & Loretta.

The film stars Megan Hilty of Smash fame as Patsy Cline and Jessie Mueller, who won a Tony award for her portrayal of Carole King on Broadway in Beautiful, as Lynn. The movie aims to tell the story of the friendship between the two country music legends, which ended with Cline’s untimely death in a plane crash in 1963.

The photo depicts the two stars on stage at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, aka the “Mother Church” of country music. (Coincidentally, Lynn was recently feted right down the street from the Ryman for her birthday, complete with Keith Urban jumping out of a birthday cake.)

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March 11, 2019

‘Patsy & Loretta’: Megan Hilty & Jessie Mueller To Star In Lifetime Movie About Country Music Icons; Neil Meron Producing

Lifetime has greenlighted Patsy & Loretta, an original movie about the friendship between country music stars Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. Smash alum Megan Hilty will play Cline, whose hits included “Crazy” and “I Fall to Pieces,” and Broadway’s Waitress star Jessie Mueller is set as the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” singer.

Set to film this month on location in Nashville, Patsy & Loretta will be executive produced by Neil Meron, in his first solo project since the death of longtime producing partner Craig Zadan. Oscar-winning Thelma & Louise writer Callie Khouri is directing, and Mark Nicholson is co-EP.

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November 12, 2018

Producer Craig Zadan Remembered In Dazzling, Star-Filled Tribute At TV Academy

By Pete Hammond // Deadline

“Craig would have loved it” was a common refrain heard in the lobby of the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre on Sunday night at the conclusion of Thespians Go Hollywood, a tribute to the life and work of the late prolific film, TV and Broadway producer Craig Zadan. Not only would he have loved it, he could have produced it from above as it was the kind of dazzling, star-laden musical show only Zadan and his longtime producing partner Neil Meron could put together, as they have proven time and again in a long career celebrating the art and science of show biz.

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August 10, 2018

‘Flint’ Producers on Bringing Real-Life Water Crisis to the Screen: “There Was Not a Happy Ending”

 

As the real fight continues in Michigan, Lifetime’s TV movie, starring Queen Latifah and Betsy Brandt, chronicles three women who join forces to save their hometown during the devastating saga.
Lifetime’s Flint follows three women — LeeAnne Walters (Betsy Brandt), Melissa Mays (Marin Ireland) and Nayyirah Shariff (Jill Scott) — who join forces after disc
overing that the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, is contaminated and causing a slew of devastating medical problems for their families.

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June 18, 2018

Craig Zadan & Neil Meron: ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ Figuring Out ‘Hair’ Nudity, and ‘Smash’ on Broadway — Turn It On Podcast

The producers say “Smash” may be one step closer to revival on stage. Also, they say Aaron Sorkin continues to work on a major rewrite of “A Few Good Men” for their live NBC play, hopefully next year.

Click here to listen to Podcast

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron knew “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert” was a success when they noticed something unusual on social media: No snarky tweets.

“This is the first time we had love tweets,” Zadan said. “On some of the others, even though we didn’t think we deserved them, we got hate tweets, because people didn’t want it to be done the way they were done. Same thing happened to us at the Oscars!”

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June 15, 2018

Neil Meron & Craig Zadan On ‘Jesus Christ Superstar!’, Reviving Live TV Musicals And Making The Oscars Work – Behind The Lens

Watch Craig and Neil’s interview with Pete Hammond’s “Behind the Lens” at Deadline:

Neil Meron & Craig Zadan On ‘Jesus Christ Superstar!’, Reviving Live TV Musicals And Making The Oscars Work – Behind The Lens

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are one of the top producing teams in show business with a vibrant career covering all the bases from movies (Chicago, Hairspray, Footloose, The Bucket List) to Broadway (revivals of Promises Promises, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying) and television. where they have become the go-to team for the new craze of live musicals that began with their ratings smash The Sound of Music, and followed by Peter Pan, Hairspray Live!, The Wiz Live! and upcoming next spring Hair Live!. This past Easter the guests of this week’s Deadline video series Behind the Lens had perhaps their biggest critical success in the genre to date with the concert staging of Jesus Christ Superstar! which aired to great success on NBC.

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May 24, 2018

‘Hair’ Set as NBC’s Next Live Musical

“Hair” will be NBC’s next live musical, the broadcaster announced Thursday.

Coming on the heels of the critically-acclaimed NBC live staging of “Jesus Christ Superstar” on Easter Sunday, “Hair Live” is currently slated to air in spring 2019. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who have executive produced each of NBC’s live musicals since “The Sound of Music,” will executive produce the telecast.

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May 14, 2018

New Musical Version of ‘Some Like it Hot’ Is Headed for Broadway

“Some Like it Hot,” the classic cross-dressing caper often hailed as among the best movie comedies ever, is being re-adapted as a Broadway
-bound musical six decades after it first hit the big screen.

The project is the first result of a development deal announced in 2014between the Shubert Organization, which is the largest landlord on Broadway, and the producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who have backed a number of musical-themed stage, film and television projects, including last month’s successful live concert version of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

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April 2, 2018

TV Ratings: ‘Jesus Christ Superstar Live’ Tops Easter Sunday With 9.4 Million Viewers

“Jesus Christ Superstar Live” carried NBC to a win in the Nielsen overnight ratings on Easter Sunday.

Airing from 8-10:23 p.m., “Jesus Christ Superstar Live” drew a 1.7 rating in adults 18-49 and 9.4 million viewers. NBC’s last live musical, “Hairspray Live,” drew a 2.3 rating in adults 18-49 and 9 million viewers back in December 2016. It is also up slightly over Fox’s live version of the religious-themed “The Passion” musical from March 2016, which drew a 1.6 and 6.6 million viewers. However, as “Jesus Christ Superstar” ended at 10:23 p.m., its initial numbers will be subject to adjustment later today.

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April 2, 2018

NY Times Review: In ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ an Old Story for (Yet Another) New Millennium

A conceptual and artistic triumph, NBC’s live telecast of “Jesus Christ Superstar” on Easter Sunday may have finally justified the recent live musical fad on network TV. Some technical flubs and one mixed-bag lead performance aside, the production was genuinely thrilling, taking chances with the staging of a classic but controversial Broadway show, much more daring than previous live musical broadcasts like “The Sound of Music” or “Peter Pan.”

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March 5, 2018

The Oscar went to ‘Coco,’ but Mary J. Blige had the winning performance

Craig and Neil recently produced the musical number at The Oscars for Mary J. Blige’s “Mighty River”:

Listen closely, future Academy Awards performers: Do. Not. Let. Mary J. Blige. Sing. Before. You.

One of pop music’s most deeply committed performers, the veteran R&B artist almost always operates at 110%. And on Sunday’s Oscars telecast, where she gave the first of the night’s performances of the tunes nominated for original song, Blige made the acts that followed look like outmatched beginners.

Singing “Mighty River” from “Mudbound” — in which her screen performance led to a second Oscar nod, for supporting actress — Blige dug deep into the gospel-fired composition written by her, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson.

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February 28, 2018

Fox 2000 Wins Hans Christian Andersen Musical By ‘Wicked’s Stephen Schwartz, David Magee, Zadan & Meron; ‘Baby Driver’ Ansel Elgort Circling

Fox 2000 emerged from a bidding battle that resulted in a substantial seven-figure deal for an untitled original musical fantasy about Hans Christian Andersen. It’s the first original musical from composter/lyricist Stephen Schwartz since Wicked, and it will be scripted by David Magee, the Life of Pi scribe whose latest is the Rob Marshall-directed Mary Poppins Returns which Disney releases Christmas Day. The film will be produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the team behind Chicago and the upcoming Jesus Christ Superstar Live! which they are producing with Marc Platt. Schwartz will also be producer. Magee is exec producer with Mark Nicholson, who runs development and production for Zadan/Meron Productions.

 

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February 11, 2018

Barbara Stepansky wins WGA Long Form Original Award for Flint

Jordan Peele’s Get Out and James Ivory’s Call Me By Your Name won the marquee film awards tonight at the 70th annual WGA Awards, in concurrent shows in New York and Los Angeles. It puts both screenplays on the frontrunner list for the Oscars.

On the TV side, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale won twice – in the Best Drama category and for New Series, joining drama series wins for the Emmys and the Globes, while HBO’s Veep won Best Comedy. Last year, FX’s Atlanta pulled off the double-win feat too, taking Comedy and New Series.

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