Film & TV NewsNBC's Bye Bye Birdie Live! Finds Its Directorial DuoJerry Mitchell and Alex Rudzinski reunite after working on Hairspray Live!.
By
Ryan McPhee
March 03, 2017
Jerry Mitchell and Alex Rudzinski
Tony winner Jerry Mitchell and Emmy winner Alex Rudzinski, who both worked on NBC’s Hairspray Live!, will return to the network to helm this year’s Bye Bye Birdie Live!. Mitchell will provide stage direction for the telecast, while Rudzinski will once again head the technical aspects of the event.
Jennifer Lopez stars as Rosie in the holiday broadcast, which has yet to announce an air date. The pop star will also executive produce alongside producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina, as well as the pair behind NBC’s previous four live musicals, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.
Mitchell returns to the Peacock network after choreographing last year's Hairspray Live!. His work can currently be seen on Broadway in On Your Feet! and Kinky Boots—he won a Tony for choreographing the latter. He also helms the new musical Half Time, which will make its East Coast premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse in spring 2018.
Rudzinski won an Outstanding Direction for a Variety Special Emmy Award in 2016 for his work on Fox’s Grease: Live. He has also directed over 20 seasons of Dancing with the Stars on ABC and NBC’s upcoming dance competition World of Dance.
Also returning from Hairspray Live! is Tony winner Harvey Fierstein, who will pen the new TV adaptation of the 1960 Broadway musical. The show is set during the height of rock ‘n’ roll in Ohio, where teen heartthrob Conrad Birdie will give a lucky small-town girl “One Last Kiss” before heading off to the army.
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Filmed in 2023, the one-night-only event featured Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Peter Friedman, and more from the Ahrens and Flaherty musical's original cast.
