FLASH FRIDAY: Aaron Tveit Gears Up For Musical Return In GREASE: LIVE!

Today we celebrate this week's big news that Aaron Tveit is poised to return to musicals via GREASE: LIVE!

You're The One That We Want

The top echelon of Broadway stars and featured players who have made the oft-perilous and famously problematic journey from stage to screen is populated by only a select few. Of course, Idina Menzel has become a global superstar during her decades in show business, starting out in the original cast of 1990s cultural lynchpin RENT and making Broadway history as the premiere Elphaba in international mega-hit WICKED, not to mention her scene-stealing work on FOX's long-running musical dramedy series GLEE, but it took FROZEN for her to truly connect with a worldwide audience in a significant, lasting way. So, too, has Broadway baby Lea Michele made a significant showbiz mark in crossing over from early roles in RAGTIME, LES MISERABLES and SPRING AWAKENING as a Broadway featured star to small screen headlining leading lady thanks in no small part to GLEE. To wit, Michele's SPRING AWAKENING original cast co-star Jonathan Groff has similarly made a relatively seamless transition from stage to screen thanks to FROZEN and his HBO series LOOKING, as has his FROZEN cast-mate Santino Fontana, fresh off Encores! ZORBA and heading into production on not one but two new TV series likely to air in the next year. Now, one of Broadway's brightest post-millennium talents, Aaron Tveit, is poised to do the same - but, will he be similarly successful in his bid for the big time?

Tveit began his career while still in college, leaving Ithaca College temporarily to star in the national tour of RENT before eventually embarking on another national tour after that, this time in HAIRSPRAY, which he soon essayed on Broadway, as well, making his mainstage Broadway debut. Soon thereafter, Tveit took on what would become a role of a lifetime - at least so far - in the original Off-Broadway production of rock musical NEXT TO NORMAL, which would eventually travel to Washington, D.C. and finally to Broadway, complete with many tweaks and changes to the score and text implemented, with the show ultimately winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Of course, Tveit also starred in the Broadway premiere of the stage adaptation of the hit Steven Spielberg-directed biopic CATCH ME IF YOU CAN not long after his NEXT TO NORMAL heyday, while also finding time to headline numerous regional musicals ranging from THE THREE MUSKETEERS to CALVIN BERGER and beyond as well as reprise his role of Roger in RENT at the Hollywood Bowl and perform a stint in WICKED, as well. Additionally, he made a major mark with the big screen edition of LES MISERABLES in 2012 and snowballed his success in the worldwide hit film into a major TV gig as the star of USA's GRACELAND, which recently kicked off its third season on the cable network after having begun in 2013. And, Tveit also swayed audiences with his TV turns on GOSSIP GIRL and LAW & ORDER: SVU even before that. Indeed, he traverses the multimedia world well.

Now, Tveit is poised to tackle one of the most iconic musical theatre roles of the last 50 years, Danny Zuko in GREASE - and not only in a production, but an all-star live TV presentation set for early 2016 on FOX. Does Tveit have what it takes to set hearts alight and tongues a-wagging like an up-and-coming John Travolta did in the famous feature film and Barry Bostwick did on Broadway before even him? Time will tell, but until then - at least as far as Aaron Tveit is concerned - GREASE is the word.

Hopelessly Devoted To Him

So, now, let's take a look back at some career highlights spotlighting Aaron Tveit and his phenomal talent.

First up, Tveit and GREASE: LIVE co-star Vanessa Hudgens light up RENT at the Hollywood Bowl.

What has been your absolute favorite onstage performance by Aaron Tveit to date? Furthermore, what is your choice for his strongest onscreen appearance? Also, what musical theatre role would you most like to see him take on next? With a resume this diverse and expansive at such a young age, it seems as though GREASE: LIVE has found an ideal headliner with the chops to pull off the rigorous demands of the dance-heavy and machismo-marked starring male role. Tveit fits the T-Birds to a tee - and a T.

Photo Credits: FOX, etc.