Good news for boob tube-addicted theater fans who’ve already made their way through Cheers, Happy Days, and SpongeBob SquarePants: Playbill is reporting that the hit ’80s sitcom Family Ties is next up for the TV-to-theater adaptation treatment.
Tony Award winner The Araca Group—whose credits include Broadway productions of Urinetown and Wicked—has announced that it’s launching a stage version of the seminal liberals-vs.-yuppies Reagan-era hit. The production will take place at The Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton, OH, mirroring the show’s Midwestern setting.
Starring Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross, and providing a breakout vehicle for rising star Michael J. Fox, the series centered on the good-natured Keaton family and the generational divide between its hippy liberal parents and fast-talking, materialistic kids. Running for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989, the show often exemplified the defining traits of the ’80s sitcom, showcasing Fox’s obvious talents while also frequently over-relying on easy one-liners or Very Special Episodes.
As for the stage show, no casting has currently been set, although Kleban Prize-winner Daniel Goldstein (Unknown Soldier, Row) is set to write it. The production is currently set to run in 2017, from June 1 to June 25.