‘Family Ties’ Adapted as a Stage Play

NBC sitcom “Family Ties,” which aired from 1982 to 1989 and was set in Ohio, is being adapted as a stage play and will debut at the Human Race Theater in Dayton, Ohio in June. “Family Ties” the play will draw on elements from the seven-season run of the 1982 series, which centered on the Keaton family and often involved the political disagreements between two ex-hippie parents (played by Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter) and their conservative son (Michael J. Fox). Araca Group, the production company behind such well known plays as “Wicked” and “Book of Mormon,” will lead the project. They’ve already signed on Kleban Award winner Daniel Goldstein to write the script.

Goldstein, known to Broadway audiences as the director of the 2011 revival of “Godspell,” recently wrote the book for the musical “Unknown Soldier,” which premiered in summer 2015 at the Williamstown Theater Festival. His upcoming projects include a version of “Hansel and Gretel” in Buffalo and a Harry Potter Death Eater Experience at Universal Studios Japan.

“Family Ties is a timeless comedy featuring a close-knit American family with vastly differing interests and politics, which very much resonates in America today. And Danny is the ideal collaborator to bring these beloved characters and their stories to the stage,” Michael Barra, president, Media & Entertainment at The Araca Group, said in a statement.

“Family Ties” the stage play will run from June 1-June 25, 2017.