Skydance Television announced Tuesday that it has partnered with the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and Concord to develop an original television series inspired by the Broadway musical “Oklahoma!”
The present-day series will be set in America’s heartland and include music by the legendary duo Rodgers & Hammerstein, reimagined for a modern audience, as well as new music to support the story. The show is written by John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side”) and Bekah Brunstetter (“This is Us,” “American Gods”).
“Oklahoma!’s artistically revolutionary position in American culture has both kept it at the forefront of theatrical performances and allowed for various new innovations. This first-time ever television series will expand on the life of this remarkably resilient show,” said Ted Chapin, the chief creative officer of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, which was acquired by Concord in 2017.
Hancock will also direct the first episode and serve as executive producer of the series along with Brunstetter and fellow executive producers Chapin, Sophia Dilley of Concord, and David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross of Skydance Television. Bill Bost, the senior vice president of television will oversee the project for Skydance.
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“Oklahoma!” is the first musical written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, and tells the story of a farm girl and her courtship by two rival suitors. The original Broadway production opened in 1943, and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning 1955 film.
Hancock wrote and directed “The Blind Side,” starring Sandra Bullock, and recently directed “The Highwaymen,” featuring Woody Harrelson and Kevin Costner. The film opened in theaters and debuted on Netflix in March. Brunstetter’s previous television credits include “This is Us,” “American Gods,” and “Switched at Birth.” She is also a playwright, penning projects such as “The Oregon Trail” and “The Cake.”