Alicia Keys will executive produce an untitled musical drama series for Showtime, along with the Oscar and Tony-winning team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“La La Land” and “Dear Evan Hansen”), the network announced on Wednesday.
Showtime gave a series commitment to the project as well.
According to the network, the series “traverses generations to tell an emotionally complex family story that interweaves modern-day and 1959 Detroit, centering on a mystery uncovered by a young musician who moves back to her childhood home.”
Pasek and Paul will contribute music to the series as well. Other executive producers include Kyle Jarrow (“The SpongeBob Musical”) who will also write, Marc Platt (“Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert,” “La La Land”), R.J. Cutler (“Nashville,” “American High”), and Adam Siegel (“Grease: Live!”). Fox 21 Television Studios will produce.
“We have always been intrigued by the prospect of doing a SHOWTIME musical series, but only if the songs could add to the depth and complexity of a great character drama. Nobody does that better than Pasek and Paul and Marc Platt… so when they came to us along with a global superstar like Alicia, a talented writer like Kyle, and excellent producers like Adam and R.J., we were all in,” Gary Levine, president of entertainment at Showtime, said.
Keys is a 15-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, musician, producer, actress, best-selling author and activist. Her acting credits include “The Secret Life of Bees”, “The Nanny Diaries” and “Empire.” In the past, Keys has executive produced “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete.”