How NBC Brought Live Musicals Back to Television

In 2011, NBC was in rough shape, Variety reports. In January of that year Comcast became the network's majority owner, and a new team arrived, led by industry veteran Bob Greenblatt. One of his big ideas was to return to NBC's roots as a home for entertainment specials and spectacles. In March 1955, the network had carried a landmark moment for Broadway on TV, a live show with Mary Martin in her famous role in "Peter Pan," and it was a hit.

Greenblatt's background as a Broadway producer gave him the confidence to try "The Sound of Music Live" with veteran producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Carrie Underwood played Maria and Stephen Moyer played Captain von Trapp. The team spent time and money on a made-for-live-TV production, sent out live from a soundstage at Grumman Studios on Long Island.

Nobody, not even Greenblatt, knew what NBC had until the first moments on December 5, 2013. Within minutes, viewers from Tina Fey to Cameron Diaz to everyday musical lovers were posting online about the joy of singing along. Zadan and Meron had chosen the show because they thought it could bring a huge audience, since adults and children love it and it is performed all over the world. Greenblatt said they had no idea how to produce a live musical or market it, since nothing like it had been done in decades.

It delivered more than 18 million viewers, well above the 10 million the network hoped for. It became a milestone in NBC's comeback and pushed its plan to focus on crowd-pleasing live events. The success let NBC make four more live musicals while Greenblatt was in charge:

• "Peter Pan Live," with Allison Williams and Christopher Walken, on December 2, 2014
• "The Wiz Live," with Queen Latifah, David Alan Grier and Shanice Williams, on December 3, 2015
• "Hairspray Live," with Marissa Jaret Winokur and Derek Hough, on December 7, 2016
• "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert," with John Legend and Sara Bareilles, on April 1, 2018

One production did not happen: a planned "Bye Bye Birdie" with Jennifer Lopez in 2017.