Two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,The Producers,Manchester by the Sea) will star as the narrator in Fox’s live musical event,A Christmas Story Live!, airing Sunday, Dec. 17 (7:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on Fox. The network announced a nationwide digital casting call for “Ralphie Parker,” the lead character inFox’s live musical production. “Ralphie” is a bright, but not precocious, nine-year-old boy whose only dream is to get a Red Ryder Range Model Carbine Action BB Gun for Christmas.
As the narrator, Broderick will play the grown-up “Ralphie Parker,” who looks back with love and humor on his favorite childhood Christmas. Broderick joins previously announced Emmy Award nominee Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live,Bridesmaids), who playsRalphie’s momin the three-hour live musical production. Additional casting information to be announced soon byFox. From Warner Horizon Unscripted & Alternative Television,A Christmas Story Live!is inspired by the holiday classic featureA Christmas Storyand the Tony Award-nominated Broadway productionA Christmas Story: The Musical.
Widely recognized for his starring role in the 1986 blockbuster comedyFerris Bueller’s Day Off, Broderick was last seen on screen inRules Don’t Apply, directed by and starring Warren Beatty; andManchester by the Sea, directed by Kenneth Lonergan. He will next be seen inLook Away, alongside Chloe Sevigny and Aidan Turner. A critically acclaimed and award-winning stage actor, Broderick’s theater credits include the smashBroadway hit"It’s Only a Play," opposite his frequent co-star, Nathan Lane; the award-winning Broadway run of “Nice Work If You Can Get It”; the Broadway production of Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple”; and “The Foreigner.”
In 2005, he starred in the feature film version ofThe Producers, reprising his Tony Award-nominated performance as Leo Bloom. Broderick won his first Tony Award for Neil Simon’sBrighton Beach Memoirs, and starred in the play’s sequel,Biloxi Blues. He won his second Tony Award for his role as J. Pierrepont Finch, in the Broadway revival ofHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Additional film credits includeYou Can Count on Me, opposite Laura Linney; andElection, opposite Reese Witherspoon. He also has appeared onModern Family,30 Rockand the cable productions ofMaster Harold… and the Boysand David Mamet’sA Life in the Theater, for which he received an Emmy Award nomination.
A Christmas Story Live!will be produced by Warner Horizon Unscripted & Alternative Television. Marc Platt (Grease: Live,La La Land,Wicked) and Adam Siegel (Grease: Live) will executive-produce, with Jonathan Tolins and Robert Cary (Grease: Live,Anything but Love,Ira & Abby) serving as co-executive producers and writers. Scott Ellis (the 2016 Broadway revival ofShe Loves Me,Weeds) is an executive producer and will serve as the director overseeing the stage direction. Alex Rudzinski (Grease: Live,Dancing with the Stars) is an executive producer and will serve as the live television director. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen,La La Land) who composed the original score toA Christmas Story: The Musical, will compose several new songs for the LIVE television event.
