Beloved TV Sitcom 'Cheers' to Become Theatrical Production This Fall

We all remember television's famous characters Sam Malone, Diane Chambers, Woody Boyd and Cliff Calvin. And who could forget Ernie "Coach" Pantusso or Norm Peterson? Not to mention Frasier Crane -- he even later got his own show! Now, the beloved TV sitcom is making a return but this time it is to the stage. Cheers will debut as a theatrical production this fall.

For eleven seasons -- from 1982 until 1993 -- TV audiences at large tuned in to NBC to watch the legendary Charles/Burrows/Charles sitcom every Thursday night. Now that quintessential piece of American nostalgia comes to the stage.

Cheers Live On Stage will debut in Boston (where else?) this September from writer Erik Forrest Jackson. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Jackson offered some insight into the stage show:

"I took season one of Cheers and put it all into a big pot and cooked it up and boiled it down," he said. "The main through-line is the relationship between Sam and Diane but done in a way so it feels fresh."

Jackson and director Matt Lenz's plan for the show involves a cast of 14 actors recreating the lovable barroom scenes from Cheers' first season. In an unusual theater move, the production will also select approximately ten audience members each night to portray the show's public house extras.

Writer Jackson wishes to underline his reverence for the original TV show, not intending to sully its devotional reputation among American '80s television connoisseurs:

"This is almost like a sacred text," he adds. "I can infuse it with new life and energy, but I have to be respectful of the original."

All current press on the upcoming stage show makes abundantly clear that none of the original television show's actors are involved with the theatrical reimagining. Cheers Live On Stage's cast list is yet to be disclosed.

"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name." 

We want to hear from you. Would you be interested in seeing and/or participating in Cheers Live On Stage? Let us know in the comments section down below.

TagsCheers, Cheers Live On Stage, Erik Forrest Jackson, Matt Lenz