Breaking News: NBC Sets PETER PAN as Next Live Musical; Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron!

Breaking news from the Television Critics Association, NBC has just revealed their next mega-TV musical, executive produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron - PETER PAN! The broadcast has been scheduled for December 4, 2014.

According to NBC, casting is currently on a fast track.

"We're very pleased to be underway on 'Peter Pan' as our next live holiday musical for the whole family," said NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt. "We were all delighted to see how 'The Sound of Music Live!' struck such a chord in December and brought nearly 19 million people to the live telecast plus another several million viewers over the weekend. In the hopes that lightning strikes twice, we think we've landed on another great Broadway musical - which ironically also starred Mary Martin - that is a timeless classic for all audiences, young and old, who just never want to grow up."

"We're thrilled to be reteaming with NBC and Bob Greenblatt in bringing 'Peter Pan' back to its roots as a live television event," said Zadan and Meron. "We hope to create the joy that has made this musical so beloved. We would like a whole new generation to experience 'Peter Pan' and for families across the country to share the magic."

Featuring the iconic songs "I'm Flying," "I've Gotta Crow," "I Won't Grow Up," and "Never Never Land," and a book full of magic, warmth, and adventure, PETER PAN is the perfect show for the child in all of us who dreamed of soaring high and never growing up.

Based on J.M. Barrie's 1904 play and Barrie's own novelization of it, PETER PAN is a classic tale featuring a score by Morris "Moose" Charlap and Jule Styne with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh and Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It is one of the most beloved and frequently performed family favorites of all time.

Originally directed and staged by Jerome Robbins, the 1954 Broadway production opened on October 20, 1954 at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York. It starred Mary Martin as Peter and Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook. Both stars earned Tony Awards for their performances. It was followed by NBC telecasts of it in 1955, 1956, and 1960 with the same stars, plus several rebroadcasts of the 1960 telecast. The show has enjoyed several revivals onstage.

Though business was strong, the show closed in 1955 to make way for the live broadcast on NBC, with ratings of 65 million viewers-the highest ratings for a single night program at the time. NBC later broadcast the show live again in 1956 and 1960, all to strong ratings. It was also the first broadcast of a musical in color. None of NBC's telecasts took place in a theater in front of a live audience; they all were broadcast from NBC studios.

In "live plus seven day" results, NBC's Dec. 5 telecast of "The Sound of Music Live" delivered a 5.62 rating in adults 18-49 and 21.837 million viewers overall, adding to the enormous audience the show attracted with its live telecast to make "The Sound of Music Live!" the #1 telecast on all of television for that Dec. 2-8 week in total viewers.

Excluding sports, it's NBC's most-watched Thursday since the night of the "Frasier" finale (22.597 million on May 13, 2004).

A total of 38.696 million viewers watched at least a portion of the Dec. 5 telecast of "The Sound of Music Live!"

Including "live plus three day" results for the Dec. 14 encore, a total of 44.183 million viewers have watched at least a portion of NBC's telecasts of "The Sound of Music Live!"

The presentation starred Grammy winner Carrie Underwood as 'Maria,' Audra McDonald ("Private Practice"), who has won five Tony Awards and two Grammys, as Mother Abbess; Stephen Moyer ("True Blood"), as Capt. Georg von Trapp; Tony Award winner Christian Borle ("Smash"), who portrayed von Trapp family friend Max Detweiler; and Tony winner Laura Benanti ("Go On"), who took on the role of Elsa Schrader, the captain's one-time fiancee.