Neil Meron Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Outfest is honoring Janelle Monáe in a big way. The actress, artist, author and singer will receive the Trailblazer Award at the organization's 2022 Outfest Legacy Awards presented by IMDb on Saturday, Oct.

Jennifer Hudson, who guest starred on NBC’s Smash, is now joining the producing team of its upcoming stage musical adaptation.

We’re getting closer and closer to the Smash musical coming to Broadway!

Some Like It Hot, the well-reviewed musical stage adaptation of the classic 1959 film comedy and winner of four 2023 Tony Awards, will play its final performance at Broadway‘s Shubert Theatre on Saturday, December 30, producers have announced.

Outfest on Thursday announced Academy Award winner Shirley MacLaine and Transparent breakout Trace Lysette as the recipients of its 2023 Legacy Awards, which will be presented at NeueHouse in Hollywood on Sunday, October 22nd.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Some Like It Hot,” a musical adaptation of the classic film, arrived on Broadway in December with sizzling reviews and backed by some of the most prominent names in comedy and theater. And yet, for the first few months of its life on stage, the show struggled to ignite at the box office. “Word-of-mouth has taken a longer time to seep out into the world than we expected,” says Neil Meron, one of the show’s producers. “One thing we’re still struggling with in this post-pandemic period is it has changed people’s buying habits. It used to be if the critics liked you, you’d be selling out. But now, there isn’t the same level of tourism and people aren’t going to the office as much, so they aren’t seeing a show after work. And we haven’t gotten those suburban theatergoers back. So it’s week-to-week, being on the edge-of-your-seat, hoping to get enough people to keep the lights on.”

EXCLUSIVE: Neil Meron, a force behind bring live events to television including such musicals as Jesus Christ Superstar, Annie and The Sound of Music, has joined Andrew Lloyd Webber’s London-based Really Useful Group as a consultant, Lloyd Webber announced today.

one of the producers of the musical adaptation of, Mariah Carey is a first-time Tony Award nominee now that the production is up for Best Musical. Like Jennifer Hudson did last year when won Best Play, Carey could earn her first Tony ever if the show wins the top prize during the 76th annual Tony Awards. Citing her love for Marilyn Monroe, who was one of the stars of the original 1959 film, Carey signed on to 's production team ahead of its official opening last fall.  «I first became familiar with this story through the timeless film starring Marilyn Monroe.

Smash? The that ran for two seasons on from 2012-2013? Well, the beloved show has joined the list of canceled TV projects getting a revival—except this one won't be on the small screen. According to , Smash producers Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron, and will bring a musical adaptation of the television series to Broadway.

A musical adaptation of the NBC television series Smash, will open on Broadway in the 2024-2025 season.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter At long last, “Smash,” a stage musical adaptation of the NBC series, is finally heading to Broadway. Original producers of the show Steven Spielberg, Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron will serve as lead producers on the musical, which is expected to debut in the 2024-2025 season. Theater veteran Susan Stroman (“The Producers”) is directing the production, with a score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (“Some Like It Hot,” Hairspray,” “Mary Poppins Returns”), who wrote dozens of songs — including “Let Me Be Your Star” — for the television show, many of which will be used in the musical. They will also be writing additional new material.

Smash is finally heading to Broadway.

EXCLUSIVE: Vanessa Williams’ personal story about the scandal that forced her to resign the Miss America crown in 1984 is in the works for the small screen. Sony Pictures Television has optioned the rights to her story to develop as a limited series, with veteran Neil Meron executive producing.

A 25th anniversary celebration of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella will air with a news special cast reunion and presentation of the original film as part of Disney Princess Week.

Wilson Chapman editorGrab your glass slippers — “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” is coming back to TV.In celebration of the beloved fairytale musical’s 25th anniversary, ABC will air a special edition of the news program “20/20” that will reunite the cast of the television film, set to air on Aug. 23.

The stage musical adaptation of NBC’s Smash is “alive and kicking,” says producer Neil Meron, and he and composer Marc Shaiman have the photos to prove it.

Some Like It Hot, the stage musical adaptation of the classic 1959 Billy Wilder film comedy, will make it to Broadway next fall, following a couple pandemic-bedeviled years that saw the cancelation of a once-planned 2021 pre-New York engagement in Chicago.

In another 48 hours, we’ll know if it worked—the Oscar show’s Audience Replacement Therapy.

Sasha Urban editor“Broadway, Here I Come!” said the musical adaptation of the late NBC show “Smash,” which Variety can exclusively reveal is planning a workshop for the summer, according to producer Robert Greenblatt.The musical was first confirmed to be in the works in May of 2020, with Tony winner Bob Martin (“The Prom”) and Tony-nominated Rick Elice (“Peter and the Starcatcher”) writing the book. Greenblatt is aiming for a Broadway opening in 2023, with the show being titled either “Smash, A New Musical” or “Smash: The Musical.”“They’ve delivered a draft that I’m very excited about, and we’re now in the process of putting together our first workshop, which is, you know, the earliest step in a musical where you just get a cast together, read the script and perform the score just for the producers,” Greenblatt told Variety.

who took over the role from Jane Krakowski after she contracted a breakthrough COVID case) as Lily St. Regis.“Annie Live!” is executive produced by Bob Greenblatt, Neil Meron and Alex Rudzinsky, with Lear deBessonet and Rudzinski sharing directing duties.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticNBC’s holiday-season live-musical franchise is so proudly square that it’s surprising it took this long for them to get to “Annie.”The recent tradition, launched by the producers Neil Meron and the late Craig Zadan, of ceding a night of network primetime to a scrappy, let’s-put-on-a-show broadcast seems to have found its perfect match in “Annie.” The family-oriented musical has never had the remotest claim on coolness.

NEW YORK -- There's a famous saying in showbiz: “Never work with children or animals.” NBC is wisely ignoring that as it mounts a live version of the hit Broadway musical “Annie.”The tale of the spunky young orphan with her dog Sandy set during the Depression will be NBC’s first live musical since its triumphant “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert” in 2018.

is the next Broadway show that's getting the live musical treatment!NBC announced on Wednesday that its newest live musical event will be, set to air this holiday season and based on the beloved seven-time Tony Award-winning hit. Robert Greenblatt will executive produce the telecast along with Neil Meron, who has served as executive producer on all of NBC's live musicals since 2013, including  and .«As we look to drive big live audiences for NBC, we could think of no better way than to bring

NBC will broadcast the holiday musical event Annie Live!, with Robert Greenblatt as executive producer along with Neil Meron, who has served as executive producer on such NBC’s live musicals The Sound of Music Live! and Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeNBC is getting a New Deal for Christmas, as it gets back into the live TV musical business with “Annie Live!” Set to air during the holidays, “Annie” also represents a homecoming of sorts for producers Bob Greenblatt and Neil Meron.Greenblatt, of course, is the former NBC Entertainment chairman who found success in bringing live musicals to the network, starting with “The Sound of Music Live!” in 2013.

Amber Ruffin has joined the Broadway-bound team of Some Like It Hot as a co-writer of the film-to-stage adaptation. The host of Peacock’s The Amber Ruffin Show will partner with Tony nominee Matthew López on the new musical’s book.

EXCLUSIVE: NBC is developing Look At Me, a drama series inspired by the life of deaf model, actor and activist Nyle DiMarco. The America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars winner executive produces the project, which hails from Neil Meron and Zadan/Meron Productions as well as Universal Television where the company is based.

EXCLUSIVE: Glee alumna Amber Riley is returning to series television as the star of another music-driven broadcast comedy series. Riley is set to headline and co-executive produce Dream, a single-camera comedy in development at NBC from writer-producer Lisa Muse Bryant (Black-ish), producer Neil Meron and Universal TV where Meron is based.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorWhen James Brolin was first approached by producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan to play Ronald Reagan in their 2003 miniseries “The Reagans,” he said he wasn’t interested.“Neil and Craig are old friends and I immediately said to them, ‘I guess everybody else turned it down,” Brolin recalls. “But they said, ‘No, we think you’re the guy.’ I wouldn’t even read it.

Pete Hammond Awards Columnist/Chief Film CriticCountry music icons Loretta Lynn and the late Patsy Cline have both had separate big-screen features focusing on their lives, including Coal Miner’s Daughter which won Sissy Spacek a Best Actress Oscar as Lynn in 1981, and Sweet Dreams for which Jessica Lange was Oscar nominated for playing Cline.At Deadline’s Contenders Television virtual event, Neil Meron, who is executive producer of the Lifetime movie Patsy & Loretta, acknowledged the fact that

Finally, the future of “Smash”

James Marsden owes Julia Roberts a special thank you.

A new musical based on TV series Smash is headed to Broadway.

“Smash” is heading to Broadway! Nearly seven years after the series took its final bow on NBC, Steven Spielberg, Robert Greenblatt and Neil Meron announced on Thursday that they’re developing a live-stage adaption of the show, which they all worked on together.

is heading to Broadway! Nearly seven years after the series took its final bow on NBC, Steven Spielberg, Robert Greenblatt and Neil Meron announced on Thursday that they're developing a live-stage adaption of the show, which they all worked on together.

Talk about meta.