It seems everything is getting the live television treatment as of late. NBC kickstarted it with last year’s The Sound of Music followed by Peter Pan Live, and the network has continued the live musical format with the recent production of The Wiz. All did well generating an audience, and it seems other networks want to duplicate the success. Fox recently announced they will be airing a remake of Rocky Horror Picture Show starring Laverne Cox. And now, ABC has thrown its hat into the event programming ring with a remake of Dirty Dancing.
And now, it appears they have found their Baby. According to Deadline, former Little Miss Sunshine Abigail Breslin (Scream Queens) will play the part first brought to the screen by Jennifer Grey in the original 1987 film. So far, we don't yet know who will play the role of Johnny Castle, made famous by Patrick Swayze.
ABC's version will be a three-hour production, but unlike those other live musical events, however, it will be rather taped before the broadcast. That's an interesting choice since it was initially meant for the big screen. Lionsgate had been planning to remake the film several years ago before the project was delayed in 2012 due to casting issues, so it’s also interesting to note that Lionsgate TV is behind this production.
Other notable people involved in the production include Executive Producer Allison Shearmur of Lionsgate’s Hunger Games franchise and Eleanor Bergstein, the writer for the original movie. Wayne Blair (The Sapphires) is set to direct and Andy Blankenbuehler (choreographer of the Broadway musical Hamilton) will serve as choreographer.
The new Dirty Dancing will center on Baby (Breslin), an innocent young woman in the early 1960s who vacations with her affluent parents and siblings in the Catskill Mountains, and falls for the resort’s working-class dance instructor.
