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Disney Theatrical Productions Bringing THE MUPPETS to Broadway in Live Stage Show?

by BWW News Desk Jun. 11, 2013

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According to Variety, Disney Theatrical Productions is exploring the idea of briging a live stage show featuring the Muppets to Broadway. A showcase was held on May 31 at the New Amsterdam Theatre with direction by Alex Timbers. Over 85 Muppets were used in the experimental project, which was held to determine if it would be possible to accommodate " puppetry needs with audience sightlines and all the other physical demands of legit theater."

Thomas Schumacher told Variety: "It was a test of concept. I'm very intrigued."

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The Muppets are a group of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. Created in 1955 by Jim Henson, they are the namesake for the Disney media franchise that encompasses films, television series, music recordings, print publications, and other media associated with The Muppet Show characters.

The Muppets were the crux of multiple television series and films, including; The Muppet Show (1976-1981), The Muppet Movie (1979), The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). After Henson's death in 1990, The Muppets continued their presence in television and cinema with Muppets Tonight (1996-1998), a series continuation of The Muppet Show, and three films, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Muppets From Space (1999), the former two were co-produced with Disney, who sought to acquire the characters since the late 1980s. In 2004, The Walt Disney Company purchased the rights to The Muppets, and later formed The Muppets Studio, a division created specifically for managing The Muppets franchise.

Disney underwent an extensive re-branding of the franchise beginning in 2008, in anticipation of the seventh film; The Muppets. The film, written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller and directed by James Bobin, was released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 23, 2011, and met with critical acclaim and commercial success. A semi-sequel, The Muppets...Again!, will be followed on March 21, 2014.