When we first heard the news that a 'Friday Night Lights' musical was a thing, had a script, and had been slated for a sping/summer 2016 release, our initial reaction was:
But then we read the details, and we realised that it's not as glorious as it seemed, and there are some very strange changes to the cast, in particular the fact that the actor who played Jason Street will be playing Coach Taylor, and our reaction quickly became more like this:
So here's the story.
There is a Friday Night Lights musical, it's called "The Unauthorized Friday Night Lights Musical", and it has it's own twitter account that is very, very excited:
"You ready to go home?" - Tami Taylor pic.twitter.com/LYhHvrkj2E
— #FNLMUSICAL (@TheFNLMusical) November 24, 2015
The script has been adapted by Jordan Ross, and directed by Lindsey Rosin, who also directed an unauthorised musical based on the show 'The OC', which admittedly is a little worrying for us.
Elite Daily are claiming that like the OC musical, Friday Night Lights will be a one-night-only event, pencilled in for late spring/early summer 2016. While it's disappointing that it won't appear on Broadway, or London's West End, like many fans are going to feel like it deserves to, there's a good change that we'll get to see some of it online.
Casting has already begun, and there is one extreme decision that has already been made...
The actor who played Jason Street (Scott Porter) will be playing the role of Coach Eric Taylor.
Seriously:
"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." Don't miss @ScottPorter as Coach Taylor in 2016! #FNLMusical pic.twitter.com/iDA4BppMIG
— #FNLMUSICAL (@TheFNLMusical) November 24, 2015
That could go one of two ways. Either it could be a disaster, or it could be an absolute masterstroke where the lessons that the actor who played Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) passed down his teaching to Scott Porter in the way that he did to Jason Street on the show. Wouldn't that be magical?
There is some definite bad news in the absence of the original actress who played Tyra Collette from the cast, instead she will be played by someone who was on The OC.
It will be interesting to see who they cast as Tim Riggins and Billy Riggins, and we will judge our excitement based on that decision.
We'll keep you updated on this as we learn more. It'll either be amazing or woeful, but we'll have some fun either way.
